Siege of Dapur

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Siege of Dapur

Part of the Egyptian-Hittite wars

The Siege of Dapur on a mural in Ramesses II's temple in Tebes

Date	1269 BC
Location	Dapur, Syria
Result	Egypt takes Dapur; Egyptian victory

Belligerents

New Kingdom of Egypt

Hittite Empire

Commanders

Ramesses II

Unknown

Strength

Unknown

Considerably fewer

Casualties and losses

Unknown (probably lower)

Unknown

The Siege of Dapur 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, the Ramesseum in Thebes. The inscriptions say that Dapur was "in the land of Hatti".^[1] Although Dapur has often been identified with Tabor in Canaan, Kenneth Kitchen argues that this identification is incorrect and that the Dapur in question is in Syria.^[2]

From Egyptian reliefs we can see that Dapur was a city, heavily fortified with both inner and outer walls, and situated on a hill which was usual for Syrian cities and many other cities in the Bronze Age.

Contemporary illustrations of the siege 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.

”