Kadesh

an ancient city in Syria on the Orontes River (near the modern city of Horns). It is known from hieroglyphic (Egyptian) and cuneiform sources from the 16th century B.c. Kadesh was inhabited by Semites. In the 15th century B.c. it was conquered by Egypt, and from the beginning of the 14th century to about 1200 B.c. it was subordinate to the Hittite empire. In the late 14th or early 13th century B.c., a battle between the Egyptian forces of Rameses II and the Hittites under the leadership of King Muwatallis occurred at Kadesh’s walls. The city was apparently destroyed at the beginning of the 12th century B.c. by the Sea People. Kadesh is again mentioned in a document from 565 B.C. as the center of a district bearing the same name in the Neo-BabyIonian Kingdom.