>> male narrator: The Egyptians left a remarkable legacy. Their monuments and great works of art still astound us today. Yet we will reveal another surprising aspect of Egyptian life: their weapons of war and their lethalness on the battlefield. Archaeologists have found evidence of some of the most incredible ancient battles ever fought, changing much of what we thought we knew about the ancients. This is the story of the battle for supremacy of the superpowers of the ancient world. [upbeat instrumental music] ♪ ♪ Our common perception of the Egyptians is of a cultured civilization, an educated people who worshipped their gods and rose to great heights of sophistication. Yet there is fascinating evidence which reveals they were also a war-faring people who developed advanced weapon-making techniques, including flexible metal body armor, deadly axes, and swords. Some of these weapons will be used for the very first time in history, and some of the battles they fought were on a truly massive scale. The greatest of all was perhaps the magnificent Battle of Qadesh. This battle was fought between the Egyptians, commanded by Ramses II, and the Hittites, led by King Muwatalli. >> It's the first human conflict that we have any sort of detailed records for. >> narrator: Even by today's standards, it was a huge battle with thousands of charioteers. >> It's not inconceivable that we could be thinking of a total chariot presence in excess of 6,000. >> narrator: Both the Hittites and the Egyptians would bring new advanced weapons to the battlefield. >> You could almost compare the situation between the Egyptians and the Hittite empire to the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union in the second half of the 20th century. >> narrator: The Battle of Qadesh will also be forever remembered as the defining moment in the reign of the great Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II. >> Imagine coming to the throne as a young man. New powers had grown up around Egypt who were encroaching on the boundaries of Egypt, and Ramses had to face this threat head-on. >> narrator: Through his skill as a brave commander, Ramses protected the lands of ancient Egypt, allowing his people to flourish. The critical factor was ensuring the security of Egypt's borders. Egypt was a beautiful country. The great Nile River fed the surrounding lands, making them rich and fertile. For thousands of years, the Egyptians enjoyed the benefits of this bountiful location. Yet there was a major problem. Due to the country's exposed position in the east of the Mediterranean, the lands were susceptible to attack from enemy raiders crossing over from nearby territories. >> If I could choose a place to live in antiquity, I think Egypt would be the place to live. And one of the main reasons is because Egypt had plenty of food. In the Bible, you read stories of people traveling to Egypt because there's famine in their own country. >> narrator: By around 1200 B.C., the Egyptians had a powerful neighbor who posed a specific threat. The hostile civilization was the mighty Hittites. They were both forces to be reckoned with. The Hittite kingdom had at its height controlled large swaths of the country now known as Turkey, as far east as the Euphrates River and as far south to the Egyptian border to the lands we now know as Syria. The earliest record of their existence is from 1900 B.C., and they were a powerful force for over 700 years. Yet their magnificent empire was almost lost to history. For thousands of years, little was known of their civilization, until a series of remarkable discoveries were made in Hatussa, Turkey, in 1905. This amazing site is still producing a constant stream of evidence of weapons and ancient architecture. Archaeologists have now used the data to re-create these imposing city walls and give us a glimpse of the impressive size and power of the city. >> The empire--the state can document its power by building and sustaining these large monumental walls. Some features of these walls are maybe comparable to present-day representative buildings like, let's say, the White House in Washington or other state buildings all over the world, which are also built to represent and document the power of a given state. >> narrator: We now realize how important the ancient city of Hatussa was and how powerful a military powerhouse the Hittites had become. >> They had to have a large, powerful, well-trained, and well-organized army. It was one of the key factors in their policy. >> narrator: They have discovered some rare and intriguing finds which show the Hittites' level of craftsmanship in their weaponry. They include superb bronze arrow and spearheads, cutting knives, and an extremely well-preserved 3,000-year-old ax head. One particularly revealing find was a magnificent stone carving found on a wall ten miles north of a Hatussa, which shows the curved swords used by the Hittites in battle. >> These gods are depicted all the same, holding a sickle sword. We think that the sickle sword is a significant weapon of the Hittite army. >> narrator: The unusual weaponry was specific to the Hittites, who had developed lethal sickle-shaped weapons. These were unlike anything the Egyptians were using at the time. >> The Egyptians had made the critical error of allowing their military system to become obsolete and indeed their military equipment to become obsolete. That is an absolute recipe for disaster at any period in history. >> narrator: In contrast, the Egyptian army of this period was an infantry force of bowmen, spearmen, and archers. For thousands of years, the Egyptians had not needed to significantly develop their weapons, as their enemies were no more advanced than themselves. But all this would change when they came into major conflict with the Hittites. The stockpile of Egyptian weapons would be severely tested, weapons such as the mace. In Oxford, England, is one of the earliest mace heads ever found. This stunning weapon is known as the mace head of King Scorpion. This 3,000-year-old beautifully carved mace head was used in ceremonies, yet other simpler versions were used to smash heads open on the battlefield. >> The technology for putting a hole in the middle of the mace is really quite phenomenal. What they do is, they heat the rock. They drop water on it a few droplets at a time, just enough to cause a small crack. Then you can chip the crack away, and you repeat it and repeat it and repeat it. And eventually there is a hole in the middle which can then be worked smooth. It can crack quite hard objects quite quickly and quite effectively. So a single hit could do an enormous amount of damage. >> narrator: It was an awesome weapon if used on an unprotected skull. By using 21st-century technology, we can see just how much damage a heavy stone mace can inflict on the bones of a skull. Using a camera that shoots at 2,500 frames per second, we can see the incredible destruction wrought by this weapon. For thousands of years, it would be wielded by Egyptians in battle as one of the important weapons they used to suppress invading enemies. But when armies reached Egypt's borders who wore metal helmets, the mace became useless. Strong helmets constructed from a composite of metals would protect enemies against the mace. Having seen the effects of the mace on an animal skull, we will see how much damage it can inflict on a metal helmet. >> Let's have a look here. Ooh. Oh, hit right on one of the rivets. And there we go: perfect little match. It's not really penetrated, though. A bit of a headache, but you might survive that. >> narrator: But by the 13th century B.C., the Egyptian army had become weak against well-protected enemy forces. They found themselves dropping behind in a developing ancient arms race. >> Egypt geographically was so well protected with the deserts on all sides and the military to the north, there really wasn't much need for them to develop any kind of more sophisticated types of military technology. However, later on, when they came under threat from the Kerma culture in the south in Africa and from Syria-Palestine in the northeast, at that stage, they simply had to develop more sophisticated types of military technology. They had to catch up with the other cultures who were their rivals in creating an empire in northeast Africa and in Syria-Palestine. >> narrator: But there was one Egyptian ruler who would realize the importance of arming the country with cutting-edge military technology in order to survive and prosper. >> For Ramses II to remain a dominant player in the ancient world at the time, it was absolutely crucial that he stayed abreast of the times. His army needed to be on a par with the Hittite army. >> narrator: New powerful weapons which could cause great carnage had to be created, weapons such as the penetrative ax. >> narrator: By 1200 B.C., the Egyptians had become complacent and for thousands of years had not developed their battle techniques. Egyptian warriors were used to the simple weapons they had relied upon for centuries, such as the mace. Yet with increasing threats from the Hittites, they needed more lethal weaponry. The great Egyptian leader Ramses II instigated huge changes in military technology and strategy in order for the Egyptians to retain their power. >> He became the archetypal pharaoh, and it's not a surprise, but virtually all the pharaohs of the 20th dynasty called themselves Ramses. >> narrator: Ramses was the son of Seti I and was born around 1302 B.C. At the age of 14, he was appointed prince regent by his father. He is believed to have taken the throne in his early 20s and to have ruled between 1279 to 1213 B.C. He would become the most prolific pharaoh to have lived, with many of his monuments still surviving today. These include the famous rock-cut temple at Abu Simbel, the stunning decorative hall in Karnak, and the mortuary temple, the Ramesseum at Thebes. Even after thousands of years, the splendor of these sites still confounds modern architects and engineers. Ramses II was an extremely ambitious ruler who wanted to seize new territories as well as protecting those he already held. He knew that his army had to be just as well armed as those of his aggressive neighbors. >> One of the first things that Ramses had to do was to face a new threat to Egypt, and this was the Hittite empire. There was a new emerging power in the Middle East, and they were attacking the boundaries of Egypt and disrupting the trade into Egypt. >> narrator: But how would the Egyptians tackle this difficult task? Under Ramses, they began by capturing, then adapting their enemies' weapons. In 1720 B.C., Egypt was invaded by a warring people called the Hyksos. Egypt defeated the Hyksos and then took their more advanced weapons and copied them. >> The princes from Thebes had driven out the Hyksos from Egypt, but they had learned by experience that they were able to adopt and adapt the weapons that are coming to Egypt at this time. And from that point on, for a foreign foe approaching the Egyptian army, they knew they were facing the latest technology and the best weapons. >> narrator: Amazingly, one of the most dangerous weapons developed by the Egyptians was the penetrative ax. In the Cairo Museum, there is a spectacular example of a 3,500-year-old ceremonial ax. The precision of the weapon maker was so fine that the ax is still sharp today. The combining of different metals to make stronger weapons became key. In Hertfordshire, England, blacksmith Steve Bluett uses techniques which have not changed for thousands of years. Yet during the Egyptian period, new metal compounds were used in weaponry to make them stronger. Every small improvement would give the army an advantage. >> When we're reproducing things like this, the technology is exactly the same. We use oven fires and molds. We're still discovering things that we've actually forgotten that they used over 2,000 years ago. This is a bronze Egyptian penetrative ax. As far as we can gather, it probably would have been used on fleeing and wounded opponents. >> narrator: The new, stronger penetrative ax could cause serious damage against most protection. >> This is bronze, which is a mixture of copper and tin. And bronze is actually three times harder than either of the parent metals. It's roughly between 9% and 10% tin, and the rest is copper. >> narrator: The forging of these metals is something that blacksmiths would struggle with today. >> Previous to that, they were only using copper, which could also be work hardened, but it lost its edge a lot faster, and it didn't cast so well as bronze. Some of the workmanship involved is--you know, we would struggle to do it today. >> narrator: The use of bronze ensured that the ax heads were stronger and would keep their sharp edges for longer. In the right hands, they were lethal. Today Egyptologists are now starting to truly understand the advanced metallurgy behind weapon technology in Egyptian times. >> This is a replica of an ancient Egyptian battle-ax. And it dates to the period of the New Kingdom, which is the time of Thutmose III and Ramses II. Now, it's very easy to look at museum objects in glass cases and look at them as nice objects in their own right. But it's easy to forget this is a killing machine. It was designed to actually kill people. The copper or bronze blade is actually lashed to the handle with leather thonging. That may seem a very flimsy way of securing it, but the leather is put on when it's still untreated, and it shrinks and tightens. And that's a really secure fixing. That means the soldiers can do their own maintenance. If they have a damaged handle, they can replace a handle and do it themselves. You don't need a big military workshop there. This long haft of the ax-- it gives it a longer swing when you're using it. And this flared shape at the end, again, that's not just a nice design. It's to stop the ax falling out of your hand when you're using it if you're hot and sweaty. >> narrator: But how powerful was the penetrative ax when tested against an ancient helmet? [man grunts] >> Definitely a better strike than the mace. Almost managed to cleave the helmet right through inside, probably a fractured skull. Not a happy bunny. >> narrator: But did soldiers use body armor in battles? Because of the intense heat, most of the body was exposed to the force of bows and blades. Only occasionally were charioteers shown wearing leather bands around their bodies. However, the pharaoh had to be protected in battle. Famously on this ornate chest, Tutankhamen is depicted wearing body armor. Ramses II would also go into battle wearing leather body armor. Yet the Hittites were more advanced. Intriguingly, they had actually developed flexible metal armor. >> This is a replica. This is a reconstruction which was done a few years ago. Each piece is overlapping half of the other one. By making them overlap each other, we get a closed armor but that is also flexible. If an arrow hits this straight, it can't get through it. And even if it hits from the side, it gets stuck between these plates. This one is made for humans to prevent humans from getting hurt, but there are larger ones which were obviously used for horses. >> narrator: The infantry relied upon their shields as their protection. They relied on a design that they had been using successfully for centuries. These Egyptian shields show the construction using wood covered with leopard hide. Those in use on the battlefield would be similar in design but less extravagant. >> This is a replica of an ancient Egyptian shield. Again, the original dates to the period of the New Kingdom. It's made of wood overlaid with leather. And you can see by the size, it's superbly designed to actually protect the upper part of your body. This shield is big enough to shield me and maybe one other person from incoming arrows or from spears or blows from axes. It's also large enough to kneel behind. Imagine facing the incoming Egyptian infantry. With a wall of shields like this, they will be impenetrable to your arrows and when you are at close quarters to your swords and battle-axes. >> narrator: Ramses II demanded the best weapon technology available for his troops, but he was up against great competition. Weapons such as the khopesh were particularly deadly. Its curved shape derived originally from a farming sickle used to cut crops. Although it had humble origins, the khopesh was, in fact, an extremely effective and versatile weapon. The cutting edge is actually on the outside of the curve. >> This is a straightedge sword probably been brought in by mercenaries based on a Greek design, really. The Romans also used swords similar to this, and they were used throughout Europe. Their skill was far superior to ours in a lot of respects. And we have definitely lost some of the technology, and we're actually now rediscovering it. >> narrator: These 3,000-year-old swords are the type to have been favored by Ramses II. They are European straight swords which were tapered to a point with the center of gravity at the back. They were lightweight and could be used by an average infantryman for fencing. Their slashing power made them a deadly weapon. >> The Hittites and other enemies of the Egyptians favored a straight sword. It's a good thrusting sword. But in open combat, it can still be used to slash. I mean, it still has a cutting capacity. It's a dual-purpose weapon. The Egyptians favored the khopesh. It has this curved blade. And the thing about curved blades is, as they lay on the flesh, they naturally impart a slicing motion. They're technically more efficient at the cut. I've looked at these on the wall carvings for years and always thought they were a rather primitive--like a sickle. They've just picked up an agricultural tool. It was a primitive, ungainly, ugly weapon. But this fine reproduction tells me it's a really beautifully designed weapon. In fact, it's almost perfectly designed, because it has every function. I can still thrust with it, because the curve is so created that the thrusting point is a direct line from my shoulder. And it's also got this little hook, so I can get in. I can hook an enemy shield, bring it down, and jab him in the face. And if that hasn't done it, slash open his jaw. I think this would be my weapon of choice. >> narrator: Ramses II knew he had to have the best swords and developed a range, including the short straight short and the longer Egyptian blades. These would form a major role in the Egyptian infantry arsenal. Yet there was another more highly prized and technologically advanced weapon in the ancient arms race: the lethal composite bow. >> narrator: In Egypt in the 12th century B.C., Ramses II was building a powerful fighting force to protect Egypt and conquer new lands. Yet he would need the most advanced weaponry available to achieve this. One of the most highly developed weapons which would impact on the battlefield was the composite bow. Deep in the bowels of the Cairo Museum can be found a unique set of Egyptian composite bows. These amazing weapons are 3,000 years old and have been magnificently engineered. Bows and arrows had been used for centuries by the Egyptians, but invading enemies like the Hyksos brought new technology. >> You have the Hyksos coming in with their compound bows, confronting the Egyptians. They can stand off out of range of the Egyptians and shoot them to pieces with compound bows. And the only solution the Egyptians have to that is to get the compound bow themselves. >> narrator: The Egyptians first used simple bows, which were between three to six feet in length. But these would be outperformed by the more powerful composite bow. It was constructed to achieve the greatest possible range while retaining a manageable size and weight. >> Inside here is an extremely sophisticated piece of engineering. >> narrator: The engine of the bow is created using thin strips of buffalo horn, which keep their shape and act as a powerful spring during firing. The horn was attached to a preformed piece of wood with resin and left to set for a month. >> Once that's set, then the string comes off, and that's a bonded unit. Your horn's there. You've got a powerful spring. But there's so much energy locked up in there that it will explode on release and could break. >> narrator: To bind the structure together, animal sinew was used. Beaten until fibrous, it was bound around the main structure for greater penetration. >> These are incredibly strong fibers that resist tension. And eventually, it's gonna look something like this. And this is then layered on that composite of wood and horn, and it gives strength and protection to the whole structure. >> narrator: All the elements of the bow were held together using a resin glue derived from fish, but this would take a great deal of time to set. >> This is going to take something like 18 months to 2 years before it sets to the right and stable consistency. So making a composite bow was a very highly developed technology, but it was an incredibly expensive technology. >> narrator: Today's equivalent composite materials are fiberglass and carbon fiber. >> It's the same thing. Horn is essentially carbon. So when that's laminated with fiberglass, these are the materials that we go to space in and the other gizmos of our modern-day society. But the concept of composite structure giving extreme strength is as old as the Egyptians. >> With a composite bow, you don't need to restring it just before the battle. You can actually carry the bow around ready strung for quite a long period, so the composite bow was a big leap ahead from that point of view and was absolutely essential to the new Egyptian armies of the New Kingdom. >> This was a really ingenious piece of technology. If you look at it in its unstrung shape, you will see how the composite materials-- the horn, the sinew, and the wood--have been set for a preformed shape. So you can see these limbs are already set as a spring so that when I string it, you've already loaded the spring. In its state of rest, these limbs are already straining forward, and you get this wonderful shape that we see on all the wonderful wall carvings. And then when I pull it, it changes shape yet again and metamorphosizes into this wonderful crescent arc, full of power. >> narrator: The composite bow would take 18 months to complete, so they were a precious and revered weapon. These extremely ornate composite bows were found in the tomb of Tutankhamen and are some of the finest examples ever discovered. The composite bow was the most powerful ancient bow to exist. Its design was developed over thousands of years until it was perfect. But how powerful was it? >> This is a bow of the Mongolian type. It's a horse archer's bow and designed to be used from horseback. These that you see here are sears, and they're held to the bow by the knee, and they extend extra energy to the bow once it's drawn back. They give you virtually unlimited draw right back across the chest. And that's when the bow really starts working. That's when the sears impart energy to the bow. This a modern composite. It's a copy, and it's made with modern materials, which are quite good but not as good as the original materials. They were made by craftsmen. They were very, very, very potent. I would say you're probably looking at something twice as powerful as what we use now. >> narrator: The speed of the arrow leaving the bow is incredibly fast. Yet only when we film at high speed and slow down the image can we see how effective and highly engineered this weapon really is. >> Action. >> Yeah, you can already see the sears there; the slight sear is starting to come in. Once the arrow is released, it actually bends around the bow to allow it to carry on straight. And then what it does is what we call fishtail from side to side until it straightens up. And you'll probably be looking at probably close to 300 feet per second for an hour. >> narrator: 300 feet per second. That's over 200 miles per hour. The impact from such a weapon would be fatal. Ramses II had amassed a powerful arsenal of weaponry in order to challenge the Hittites at the Battle of Qadesh. Yet there would be one more weapon which would be crucial in the outcome: the lightning-fast super chariot. >> narrator: In the ancient world, chariots became the most important piece of military equipment that a superpower could possess. >> Chariots evolved over time from what was initially quite a clumsy cart with the solid wheels and so on into eventually the ultimate war machine, very lightly built, very efficient. It was probably the most complex object that anybody in the ancient world ever attempted to construct. >> narrator: The warrior pharaohs of Egypt came into conflict with enemies who were using fleets of chariots in battle. They began to build up their own chariot corps through trade and seizure. Once they had mastered the art of chariot building, the Egyptians developed their own vast fleets. Images on tombs actually show mass production of war chariots being manufactured, ready for battle. >> This was clearly a unique moment in history when for the first time the entire resources of a state were deployed to producing a chariot on what was essentially the first production line in history. >> Recent discoveries that were made at the site of Ramses' capital at Pi-Ramses in the delta have actually revealed a military industrial complex complete with workshops for manufacturing various types of weaponry and even essentially a storehouse for chariots and parts of chariots. >> narrator: Not only had the Egyptians adopted the chariot; they had nearly perfected it by the time of Ramses II. They had turned the machine into the finest of the ancient world. >> The Egyptian craftsmen took the chariots, and they're technically incredibly difficult things to make. The wheels are masterpieces of construction. But they made a light, fast chariot which was better than the enemy's chariots. >> narrator: The English chariot expert Robert Harford has built replicas of both Egyptian and Hittite chariots. >> It's a light, maneuverable, nippy job. I can imagine it being very maneuverable in tight corners and a useful thing around a crowded battle scene. >> narrator: The Egyptian chariots consisted of a lightweight wooden circular cab with an open back on top of an axle with two wheels with either four or six spokes. The wheels were meticulously assembled. >> This is the sort of thing that the ancient Egyptians were using. It's a bent wood rim. Outside that is a rawhide tire. The spokes are actually braced by tyings of animal fibers around the roots here. And so that was the way it was done in the Bronze Age. >> narrator: The beauty of the Egyptians' chariots was that they were strong but extremely lightweight and maneuverable. In contrast, the Hittite chariots were much heavier and more solid. They were good for charging through ranks but much slower. Each had its merits. By positioning the axle further back on their war chariots, the Egyptians created a chariot which had a much sharper turning circle, allowing them to move quickly. Yet the Hittite chariot's heavy axle enabled them to carry a third man into battle. >> Here we have a detail of the Battle of Qadesh, and you have a typical Hittite chariot. It's a larger, heavier chariot than the Egyptians have, holding a three-man crew. Also typical of the Hittites is this distinctive hourglass-shaped shield. You would have had a driver, a shield bearer, and an archer. >> narrator: The third man's role was to shield his fellow charioteers from enemy weapons. >> He was aboard to give protection to the archer, because when they were being attacked by other chariots, then it was a question of maneuvering. And the Egyptians would try and get alongside, usually along the right-hand side, where it's difficult for the archer to shoot across the driver. And they would come alongside and shoot out the chariots. The shield bearer could give the archer and the driver some protection to that. The shield bearer also carried a spear. The spear was used to drive off any of the infantrymen coming too close to the chariot. It could in extreme circumstances be used like a lance. You could get a Hittite chariot coming up behind an Egyptian chariot, and you'd go for the horses. So the shield man with his spear had a dual function: to fight other chariots and to protect against infantry. >> You look at the Hittite chariots, and essentially, you've got somebody with a spear, somebody with a shield, and so on. They just don't seem to have had the same brilliant conception of the chariot as a way of moving your archers very rapidly around the battlefield. >> narrator: The superior speed of the Egyptian chariots gave them a great advantage. Although only carrying two men, they could escape their enemies quickly by moving out of range or making lighting-surprise attacks. A superb ceremonial example can be seen in the Cairo Museum. >> You can see what one of these ancient Egyptian chariots would have looked like from the examples preserved in the tomb of Tutankhamen. And here you typically see a very wide axle, much wider than the chariot car itself, with the wheel set very far back at the back of the cab. The cab itself is very small and very shallow, so it would have been a tight fit for both a driver and an archer to sit in one of these chariots. However, the Egyptian chariot was very lightweight and extremely maneuverable. They were essentially the F-16 fighters of their day. >> narrator: Ramses II had amassed his men and their high-tech weapons. He was now ready to go into battle. >> We have to remember that the ancient Egyptians hadn't had the horse and chariot before the New Kingdom. So Ramses II, with the combination of the composite bow and the horse and chariot, really did have the peak of military equipment. >> narrator: Ramses II's reputation as a great military leader would rest on his success at Qadesh. But when would he strike? >> narrator: The stage was set for the Battle of Qadesh. Ramses II had prepared his forces with the finest weaponry and was ready to embark on one of ancient history's decisive battles. He led his infantry and charioteers on a thousand-mile journey northwards to oust the Hittites from the city of Qadesh. The power struggle between the two great societies was about to reach the breaking point. Ramses wanted to avenge the encroachment of the Hittites on Egyptian territories. The Hittites were empire building and set their sights on the valuable trade routes in and out of Egypt. >> The Egyptians had lost the province of Qadesh in Syria 50 years before Ramses came to the throne. And the empire had survived quite nicely without it. But the Egyptians seemed to have had an obsession with Qadesh. They couldn't let go of it. They had to get it back to save their own face. >> The citadel of Qadesh sits on a tall rocky mound in the middle of a vast plain, an ideal theater of war for chariots. And that valley was a crucial and lucrative trade route. Ramses wanted that. And that is why he marched his army nearly 1,000 miles to face King Muwatalli and take Qadesh. >> narrator: Ramses finally arrived on the edges of the plain below Qadesh. He knew King Muwatalli's Hittite troops were in the region and he would face an awesome force of thousands of troops and well-armed charioteers. He was outnumbered, and his only chance of victory would be in the strategic deployment of well-armed infantrymen but more specifically, his skilled bowmen attacking on their high-speed chariots. But what strategy did Ramses employ to make sure his archers had the advantage? The key would be the pattern of short, sharp attacks and the rounds which could be fired in quick succession. As a way of demonstrating this technique, weaponry expert Mike Loades will fire a composite bow from a chariot to show the pattern of forays which would be undertaken by the Egyptians. For demonstration purposes, we have used a platoon of Roman soldiers to represent the Hittites who fought in a much later period but would have had similar shields and helmets for protection. >> The chariot wasn't used like a tank. It wasn't a contact weapon for smashing through, 'cause if you've got a dense phalanx of men and you charge with a chariot, it's got horses in the front. It's a light vehicle. There's no real weight there. After the first two ranks, the speed is frustrated; the chariots come to a halt, the charioteers hauled off and killed. So it's not used for that sort of contact. What it's used for is-- against infantry, it needs to frustrate the movement of infantry on the battlefield to get tactical advantage. As I'm riding in, I want to see how many arrows I can drop into this block. I'm at my most vulnerable when I turn, because he's sideways on. You've got the horse sideways on. It's an easy target for them, so I don't want to go too close to them, just as close as I dare, and make that turn as sharp as we can. And as we get away, I still want to send some shots back. [horses neighing] Well, I got ten arrows into that body of men. Now, 250 meters, you've got to consider riding perhaps a horse's length behind each other. You'd easily get 50 chariots in that loop, so that's a rate of about 1,000 arrows a minute. An Apache helicopter gunship only shoots 1,200 rounds a minute. I mean, it's phenomenal that this ancient technology is close to matching that. Quite extraordinary. >> narrator: Superbly armed and with a well-trained force, a confident Ramses set up camp on the edges of the plain. Yet unbeknownst to him, Muwatalli and his forces were just out of view behind the hill on the other side of Qadesh. Seeing his opportunity, Muwatalli decided to send 2,500 of his troops to attack the Egyptian camp. Yet just as they rounded the hill, another battalion of 1,000 Egyptians arrived. The Hittites drew swords and blades and slaughtered most of the Egyptian men in the chaos. Spurred on by their initial success and having made a surprise attack, the Hittites decided to move on to Ramses' camp. >> The Egyptians would have known very little what was going on until suddenly the thundering chariots appeared in their midst. They were taken completely by surprise. The chariots are a good means of moving people rapidly from one place to the other. And a division of chariots coming towards you are really quite intimidating. >> narrator: In a legendary act of warfare, accounts describe how Ramses rallied his troops and led them in a terrifying counterattack against the Hittites. Pursued by the faster Egyptian chariots, the fleeing Hittites were pushed back to their base by Ramses. >> Now they were headlong helter-skelter where Ramses was pushing them. And Ramses' account says they had to abandon their chariots and swim for home. They swam like crocodiles, he says. It was a great psychological victory. >> narrator: At its height, it is estimated that around 6,000 chariots were locked in combat at Qadesh. As many as 20,000 soldiers in all were fighting with advanced weaponry. >> So now on the open plain, what chariots can do, what chariots need to do, Ramses defeats them. He really wins that day and drives them across the river. >> narrator: The Hittite leader had seen at first hand the ferocity and determination of Ramses and his men. Witnessing the carnage and not wishing for further bloodshed, the Hittite king, Muwatalli, decided to call a cease-fire. >> Ramses then laid siege to it by surrounding the city with his troops, but it soon became clear that it was almost a no-win situation. The Hittites weren't going to give up, and Ramses couldn't sustain a siege around the city for a long time. >> narrator: Ramses declared himself the victor and returned home a great hero. Yet in reality, both leaders agreed to a truce. >> The Battle of Qadesh wasn't a great victory for Ramses II. These days, it's generally considered a stalemate, but he was able to turn it into a hugely important piece of propaganda. As far as the Egyptian people were concerned, he was the great victorious ruler. And he covered the temples of Egypt with these statements of his victory and his supremacy in the ancient world. >> narrator: There continued to be skirmishes around Qadesh for another 15 years, yet no battle as fierce as the Battle of Qadesh was fought there again. The battle finally led to the Egyptians and the Hittites joining forces against the civilization who loomed over both of them: the Assyrians. In a remarkable strategic move, the Egyptians and Hittites signed the first ever peace treaty in history. A copy of the famous peace treaty is displayed today in the headquarters of the United Nations in New York. >> And we have both accounts: the Egyptian written account, which is in Karnak Temple, and the Hittite account as well. And the two superpowers agreed to be friends. >> narrator: Whatever the outcome, Ramses had transformed Egypt into a military powerhouse of the ancient world. >> Ramses was the man. Ramses was the man of the moment, and Ramses was the pharaoh of Egypt. And it still retained its superiority among nations of the time. >> narrator: War has always been the catalyst for technological breakthroughs. And the axes, swords, and knives of ancient wars laid the foundations for military technology for thousands of years. What new inventions remain to be rediscovered in modern times and make us rethink everything we thought we knew about the ancient world? Captioning by<font color="#00FF00"> CaptionMax</font> www.captionmax.com
