QADESH. City of north Syria, generally identified with the archaeological site of Tell Nebi Mend, on the Orontes River. The name is often spelled “Kadesh” in Egyptological literature. The Semitic name qadosh means “a sanctuary” and was rendered into Egyptian hieroglyphic using a sign now generally transcribed as qd.
Qadesh has a strategic position, controlling the Beqa Valley. It first appears in Egyptian texts as the leader of a coalition of about 330 towns of Canaan and Syria that opposed Thutmose III at the battle of Megiddo. After Thutmose III’s victory, Qadesh still opposed his advances, although its ruler acknowledged Egyptian authority when Amenhotep II approached the city on his first Asiatic campaign. Qadesh remained an Egyptian vassal until the reign of Akhenaten, when the Hittites became active in the region, destabilizing the kingdom of Mitanni. Qadesh and its ruler occur in a number of the Amarna Letters. The Hittite advance led to open war with Egypt, and Qadesh became a focus for the campaigns of both Sety I and Ramesses II. Sety I’s attack on the city is depicted in his battle reliefs in the temple of Karnak (Thebes). Despite his success, Qadesh had reverted to Hittite control by the accession of Ramesses II. The city is famous as the site of the battle in year 5 of Ramesses II between the Egyptian and Hittite armies (see following entry). Despite the claims of a victory by Ramesses II, Qadesh remained under Hittite control until it was destroyed in the 12th century. This is usually attributed to the Sea Peoples.
QADESH, BATTLE OF (c. 1274 BC). Battle in year 5 of Ramesses II between the Egyptian army led by Ramesses II and the Hittites under Muwatalli. Although the outcome was inconclusive, Ramesses II claimed it as a great victory, and a pictorial and literary account was carved in many of his temples. Reliefs depict the battle in the temples of Abydos, Karnak, Luxor, the Ramesseum, and Abu Simbel. There were certainly comparable battle scenes in the temples of Memphis and other northern cities that have now been destroyed. The pictorial accounts are accompanied by two literary accounts known as the “Bulletin” and the “Poem of Pentawere.” The poem emphasizes the heroic role of the pharaoh, and is an expression of kingship ideology, but framed within the historical context. This survives in papyrus copies as well as temple inscriptions. The Bulletin, found alongside the pictorial accounts, is rather more factual, but still gives the leading role to the pharaoh. These Egyptian accounts are supplemented by the equally biased Hittite account on tablets from Bogazköy. There is a large Egyptological literature on the sources and reconstructing the course of the battle.
In his first years of reign, Ramesses II continued Sety I’s campaigns, which had reasserted Egyptian authority over Canaan into Lebanon. In year 4, Ramesses had some success in regaining control of Amurru, which led the Hittite king, Muwatalli, to retaliate. He assembled an army from Hatti and 16 of its provinces and allies. He put a total of 2,500 chariots and 37,000 men in the field.
Ramesses II marched his army north through Gaza, Canaan, and Galilee into Lebanon and then up the Beqa Valley. The march took one month. The four army divisions were named after the principal deities: Amun, Re, Ptah, and Seth. Ramesses went ahead with the division of Amun, forded the Orontes, and began the advance toward Qadesh. Two “spies” were captured by the Egyptians and said that the Hittites were at Aleppo, when, in fact, they were already at Qadesh. The division of Amun arrived and set up camp when two more Hittite spies were captured and the truth revealed. Messengers were sent to hurry the arrival of the division of Re, which was the closest, probably about half a day’s march away, and the division of Ptah, which was a little farther behind. The division of Seth must have been more than a full day’s march behind.
The Hittites launched their attack while the chariotry of the division of Re was coming across the plain and Ramesses and the division of Amun were still unprepared. Ramesses was able to muster the chariotry and engaged the enemy. A relief force, the “Ne’aren,” arrived and was able to join in, and, remarkably, the Egyptians were eventually able to drive the Hittite chariotry back to the Orontes. The division of Ptah arrived toward the end of the battle and was able to join in mopping-up operations: capturing prisoners and booty and counting the dead.
The account of the following day is open to more than one interpretation. Many scholars have understood it to mean that Ramesses II resumed the battle, but that the armies disengaged. A different reading of the text proposes that Ramesses actually took part in a decimation of some of his own soldiers who had abandoned the conflict on the preceding day. Negotiations for peace were opened. Ramesses refused to yield his claims to Qadesh and Amurru but agreed not to open hostilities again. The Egyptians returned home, leaving Muwatalli free to secure his control of Qadesh and Amurru, where he installed a new vassal ruler.
QARQAR. City in north Syria to the northwest of Hamath, on the Orontes River, site of two major battles in 853 BC and 720 BC. Qarqar’s exact location is uncertain. It might perhaps be identified with modern Qarqur, or with a tell at Jisr es-Sugur, on the route from Aleppo to Latakia.
QARQAR (BATTLE, 853 BC). In 853 BC, Shalmaneser III, the king of Assyria, defeated a coalition of the rulers of western Asia led by Hadad-idri, king of Damascus. Shalmaneser was attempting to bring the territory of Urhilina (Irkhuleni), king of Hamath, under Assyrian suzerainty. The forces of the coalition are detailed on the “Kurkh monolith” and it is a valuable source for our understanding of the ratios of chariots, cavalry, and infantry at this time.
In addition to these groups, there were smaller contingents of infantry from some of the coastal cities and 1,000 camels from a ruler of the Arabs, one of the earliest records of camels used in war. There was a contingent of “1,000 men from Musri” Egypt. This is the first known Egyptian intervention in western Asia since the campaigns of Sheshonq I and “Shishak” more than 70 years earlier. It is notable that the Egyptian force was small and not associated with a named ruler. Whichever pharaoh was responsible for sending this assistance (Egyptologists are divided on his identity) clearly hoped that the massed army of the coalition would be sufficient to keep the Assyrians from further advances into western Asia, but was unwilling or lacked the resources to supply greater strength. A later record of Shalmaneser III, the “Black Obelisk” (London, British Museum), lists and depicts the tribute of the west received by the Assyrian king. This includes the tribute of Musri, and it is clear that following the battle of Qarqar and Shalmaneser III’s later victories over the coalition in the campaigns of 849, 848, and 845 BC, the pharaoh felt the need to bow to Assyrian superiority.
QARQAR (BATTLE, 720 BC). The second battle of Qarqar was in 720 BC. Shortly after his accession, Sargon II marched west to suppress the rebellion that had broken out on the death of Shalmaneser V. Sargon defeated Yau-bi’di of Hamath at Qarqar, before moving south to engage Egyptian forces at Raphia.
QASR. Southernmost fortress in Kharga Oasis, standing where the Darb el-Arbain (Forty Days Road), the great caravan route from Darfur, enters the oasis basin. The walls stand 9 meters high, enclosing an area of 30 × 20 meters. The associated pottery is Roman, although not yet more closely dated. Whether the fort was built to control trade along the desert road or prevent military attacks from the south, cannot be determined without excavation. In Medieval early Modern times, there was an Ottoman garrison in the same region.
QASR EL-GHUEIDA. Qasr el-Ghueida stands in a commanding position on a hilltop south of the town of Kharga. The large, square enclosure, with walls some 10 meters high, is now filled with buildings and a temple complex. The original small chapel dates to the reign of the Persian pharaoh Darius I (521–485 BC), and was considerably enlarged in the Ptolemaic period. The Roman garrison at Kharga (Oasis Magna) is referred to in the Notitia Dignitatum, and undoubtedly this fortress is a contender for its headquarters.
QASR IBRIM (PRIMIS). Hilltop fortress in Lower Nubia. Qasr Ibrim stands opposite the fortress-town of Aniba (Miam), although there is no evidence for Middle or New Kingdom fortification of the site. All of the New Kingdom stonework found on the site was brought from Aniba, mainly from the temples. The earliest phases of the fortifications have been excavated only recently. There were seven identified phases of rebuilding, the last being contemporary with a temple of the Kushite pharaoh Taharqo (680–665 BC). Radiocarbon evidence suggests a date of 920–800 BC for phase 3. The early constructions include a terrace of stone and a substantial mud-brick defensive wall with stone inner facing. A circular tower of cut sandstone was later built over the entrance in the defensive wall and was itself later encased in a polygonal bastion of mud brick. This was followed by the work associated with Taharqo. Following the Kushite withdrawal from Egypt (656 BC), there is no clearly dated evidence known from Qasr Ibrim until the extension of the enclosure walls in the Ptolemaic and Roman periods.
There is evidence for a number of temples, and Ibrim’s primary function as a fortress has now been questioned. However, it certainly played a significant role in the Roman conflict with Meroe. According to Strabo the Roman prefect, Caius Petronius, captured “Premnis” (Ibrim) on his march to Napata and again on his return, installing a garrison and supplies. It is possible that he had intended Ibrim as the new southern frontier between Roman Egypt and the Meroitic kingdom, instead of the Ptolemaic frontier at Maharraqa (Hiera Sykaminos). A Meroitic advance northward may have captured Ibrim: it forced Petronius to return to Nubia. Recent excavations have identified considerable new evidence relating to this phase and show that earlier ideas that it was a Roman military outpost until circa 100 AD are wrong. The Roman pottery evidence is entirely contemporary with Petronius’ expeditions. A significant site on a headland down river of Ibrim was discovered and surveyed in 1990. The site has two dry stone enclosures, one with a cleared area, interpreted as a parade ground with emplacements for military standards. Low stone walls suggested a layout of tented barrack blocks. Following the Meroitic deputation to Augustus, the frontier was re-established at Maharraqa. Ibrim remained in Meroitic occupation throughout the later Roman period and became an important Christian center, with a cathedral, and in early modern times, the site of an Ottoman garrison (with Bosnian troops). See also MEROE.
QASR EL-LABEKA. Roman fortress in the north of Kharga Oasis controlling the Darb el-Arbain (Forty Days Road). Roughly 12 meters square, with circular corner towers, the design is similar to other forts in the region, such as Someira and el-Gib. The fort is part of a group of related ruins with a temple enclosure, tombs, and aqueducts.
QASR QARUN. See DIONYSIAS.
QUBAN. Fortress in Nubia standing at the mouth of the Wadi el-Allaqi, the principal gold-mining region of Nubia. It was founded in the early 12th Dynasty by Senusret I. It was a large rectangular structure similar in plan to the contemporary forts of Aniba and Mirgissa. The remains were already suffering considerable destruction in the 19th century AD and relatively little excavation was carried out before the total loss of the site. Its history and archaeology is, therefore, less well known than that of the Second Cataract fortresses. At the end of the New Kingdom, Quban appears to have been occupied by the forces of the general and high priest of Amun, Paiankh, when he directed his campaign against the viceroy of Kush, Panehesy, in the last years of the reign of Ramesses XI.
QUEENS. Several women ruled in Egypt: Neitiqert at the end of the Old Kingdom; Sobekneferu at the end of the 12th Dynasty; Hatshepsut (and perhaps Smenkhkare) in the 18th Dynasty; and Tawosret at the end of the 19th Dynasty. These women, however, assumed full pharaonic titularies and regalia and should be properly regarded as pharaohs, the Egyptians having no concept of a queen-regnant. The women of the Ptolemaic family were active in political life and some, such as Kleopatra II, Kleopatra III, and Berenike III, were regnant queens. Kleopatra VII assumed the full pharaonic style, but was always depicted as a woman (contrary to Hatshepsut). These Ptolemaic queens became involved in dynastic wars in Egypt and Syria, and in civil wars.
South of Egypt, there were female rulers in the Kushite kingdom of Meroe. They used the distinctive title Ktkl, from which we derive the Greek form, Kandake, more usually found in literature. The Kandake can be depicted in the traditional pharaonic style, smiting her enemies, and there is evidence from Roman writers that one of them (probably to be identified with Amanirenas) led her armies into battle.
With the exception of the female pharaoh Hatshepsut, there is no evidence for military activities led by Egyptian queens of the pre-Ptolemaic period. Despite this, a distinctly violent image of queenship was developed in the later 18th Dynasty. Tiye, the wife of Amenhotep III, and Nefertiti, the wife of Akhenaten, were both depicted as a female sphinx trampling the female enemies of Egypt. Tiye is shown as a form of the goddess Tefnut in her temple at Sedeinga in Nubia, with the epithet “Great of terror in the foreign lands.” Nefertiti is shown smiting the female enemies of Egypt with a khepesh. These images were modified to a more conventional passive form for later queens who accompany or watch their husbands performing violent acts. An ostracon depicts a queen in a chariot in combat with a chariot-borne male, but there is no accompanying text to elucidate its historical or mythological context. An actual role for Tiye in diplomatic affairs is attested in the Amarna Letters and letters from the royal archive at Hattusa show that the wife and mother of Ramesses II were engaged in a similar diplomatic correspondence with the wife of the king of the Hittites. Peaceful relations between Egypt and the Hittites was confirmed when Ramesses II entered into a diplomatic marriage with the daughter of the Hittite king.
QUINQUEREME (Greek: penteres). Larger than the trireme, the quinquereme was a characteristic vessel of the Hellenistic navy, with three banks of oars. It first appears in the navy lists of Athens in 325 BC and was adopted by the Romans (on the model of captured Carthaginian ships) during the Punic Wars. The size of such vessels made them difficult to maneuver. It has been assumed that the use of such large and unwieldy ships at Aktion, from Kleopatra VII’s fleet, was a contributory factor to the defeat of Marcus Antonius.