Siege of Dapur

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

The Siege of Dapur (or Tabor) occurred as part of Ramesses II's campaign to suppress Galilee and conquer Syria in 1269 BC. He inscribed his campaign on the wall of his mortuary temple in Tebes, Ramesseum. Dapur was a heavily fortified city, standing on a hill and protected by enormous inner and outer wall. It seems that some Hittites were stationed at Dapur. The city, identified by Breasted with Tabor, had a Hittite garrison which, once conquered, sang the praise of the Egyptian king, at least in Ramses' inscriptions:

Said the vanquished of Kheta in praising the Good God: "Give to us the breath that thou givest, O good ruler. Lo, we are under thy sandals; thy terror, it has penetrated the land of Kheta. Its chief is fallen because of thy fame; we are like herds of horses, when the fierce-eyed lion attacks them.

Contemporary illustrations show the use of ladders and chariots with soldiers climbing scale ladders supported by archers. Six of the sons of Ramesses, still wearing their side locks, also appear on those depictions of the siege. Those include:

King's son, of his body, his beloved, Khamwese. King's son, of his body, his beloved, Montu[...]. King's son, of his body, his beloved, Meriamon. King's son, of his body, his beloved, Amenemuya. King's son, of his body, his beloved, Seti. King's son, of his body, his beloved, Setepnere.

References

• James Henry Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Part III § 359.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Thursday February 28, 2008 at 12:14:51 PST (GMT -0800)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation