Here, it is admitted that the two spies successfully tricked Ramses into believing that Muwatallis was in Aleppo, and only later on does he realize that Muwatallis was close by, preparing a surprise attack (Breasted 1988:144-6). This reveals that the Pharaoh was not infallible, a mistake that led to a major part of why the Egyptians performed as poorly as they did in the battle. By the time Ramses sends a vizier back to warn the other divisions, the surprise attack is sprung on Ramses’ division, “Amun” (Breasted 1988:147). The second division, “Ra”, was already decimated although the public caption only says that they were “aware of the attack” (Breasted 1988:151). There are other problems between the narrative’s consistency between contents of the records and reliefs. Ramses claims that he was “forsaken” to fight single-handedly, despite another statement being made that officials aided in smiting the Hittites (Breasted 1988:147). Ramses stresses this point, going so far as to have it put as an “aside” comment in the official record, and that “infantry and chariotry [were] there to prove it” (Breasted 1988:147). Ironically, this attempt of legitimizing this claim only contradicts himself since it speaks of
Here, it is admitted that the two spies successfully tricked Ramses into believing that Muwatallis was in Aleppo, and only later on does he realize that Muwatallis was close by, preparing a surprise attack (Breasted 1988:144-6). This reveals that the Pharaoh was not infallible, a mistake that led to a major part of why the Egyptians performed as poorly as they did in the battle. By the time Ramses sends a vizier back to warn the other divisions, the surprise attack is sprung on Ramses’ division, “Amun” (Breasted 1988:147). The second division, “Ra”, was already decimated although the public caption only says that they were “aware of the attack” (Breasted 1988:151). There are other problems between the narrative’s consistency between contents of the records and reliefs. Ramses claims that he was “forsaken” to fight single-handedly, despite another statement being made that officials aided in smiting the Hittites (Breasted 1988:147). Ramses stresses this point, going so far as to have it put as an “aside” comment in the official record, and that “infantry and chariotry [were] there to prove it” (Breasted 1988:147). Ironically, this attempt of legitimizing this claim only contradicts himself since it speaks of