The Battle of Kadesh (also Qadesh) took place between the forces of the Egyptian Empire under Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatalli II at the city of Kadesh on the Orontes River, in what is now the Syrian Arab Republic. The battle is generally dated to 1274 BC and is the earliest battle in recorded history for which details of tactics and formations are known. It Ramesses army crossed the Egyptian border in the spring of year five of his reign and, after a month's march, reached the area of Kadesh from the South.