Egyptian–Hittite War

1274–1258 BC Levant / Anatolia Status: ended Casualties: Unknown — largest chariot battle in history

The Battle of Kadesh (c. 1274 BC) was the largest chariot engagement ever recorded, involving ~5,000 chariots. Ended with the earliest surviving peace treaty, the Egyptian–Hittite Treaty of ~1258 BC.

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Belligerents

Egypt (Ramesses II)
Hittite Empire (Muwatalli II)

Casualties

Unknown — largest chariot battle in history

Key events

1274 BC — Battle of Kadesh
c. 1259 BC — Egyptian–Hittite Treaty (earliest surviving peace treaty)

Aftermath

The treaty — inscribed on silver tablets and displayed at Karnak and Hattusa — produced ~70 years of peace, freeing both empires to focus on rising threats (Sea Peoples, Assyria) that ultimately destroyed both.

Weapons & matériel

Light chariots (Egyptian, 2-man)
Heavy chariots (Hittite, 3-man)
Composite bows
Bronze javelins, spears, khopesh
Iron weapons (Hittite — early adopter)

Technology

Largest chariot battle in history (~5,000+ chariots); Hittites among the first to use iron weapons systematically

Cost

Tens of thousands of conscript-days; entire chariot corps committed to a single engagement

Sources

Poem of Pentaur
Ramesseum reliefs
Hittite tablets from Hattusa

From World at War, an interactive atlas by Jairus Pereira. Figures are approximate, drawn from Wikipedia, UCDP, ACLED and academic sources — a design artefact, not an authoritative register. Contact.