The medieval, modern and contemporary eras boast countless accounts of pitched battles that have been handed down to posterity as epic, triumphant and violent clashes. However, we know little or nothing about the great battles of ancient history, with the exception of late Republican and Imperial Rome. In eras where military narratives struggle to detach themselves from epic ones, it is difficult to distinguish reality from heroic deeds of dubious veracity, taking battles about which we know little or nothing (such as the Battle of Marathon) to be great clashes.

With this in mind, searching through the maze of history, the first real pitched battle between two superpowers ever documented dates back to the era of the great pharaohs and pyramids: the Battle of Kadesh (1274 BC). During the 19th dynasty (13th century BC), the Egyptian empire was at the height of its expansion and splendour, thanks to the leadership of Pharaoh Ramses II “the Great” (1303 BC - 1212 BC). At that time, the enemy of the Egyptians was the other great kingdom that occupied Anatolia: the Hittites. They had always been at war with Egypt for control of fertile Syria. This rivalry reached its peak in 1274 BC when Ramses II, determined to put an end to the Hittites, decided to conquer their fortress at Qadesh. Convinced that the Hittite army was still far from the fortress, Ramses camped there with only the Ra division, but when he learned from captured spies that the Hittites were just behind Qadesh, he gathered his forces and engaged in battle with his rivals, who had just attacked in turn. On his battle chariot in the front row, Ramses II with the Amun division raced against the Hittites, waiting for the Ptah and Seth divisions. However, finding himself in a trap set by the Hittite king Muwatalli - who did not use all his available forces but only the fastest ones to immediately destroy the pharaoh before reinforcements arrived - Ramses, according to Egyptian sources, prayed to the sun god Amun and received the strength to personally kill many enemies, holding out long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Muwatalli (who died shortly after the battle) retreated to Qadesh, while Ramses, not wanting to wear down his army in a siege, decided to show mercy and withdrew. The two kingdoms, unable to prevail over each other, signed a historic peace treaty shortly afterwards: the first diplomatic treaty in recorded history.Copies were preserved in Thebes and Ḫattuša. Both promised peace and mutual aid in war, under penalty of divine punishment from the gods.