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At this point, the Hittites made the mistake of stopping to plunder the Egyptian camp, giving the Egyptians enough time to regroup with their other two divisions. They then fought for four hours, at the end of which time both sides were exhausted and Rameses was able to safely withdraw his troops.

In the end neither side was ever victorious. Finally, after many years of war, Rameses made a treaty with the prince of the Hittites, so ending the long stalemate between the two civilisations. In addition to agreeing not to invade each other’s terrirtories, they also agreed on a defence alliance to deter common enemies, mutual help in suppressing rebellions in Syria, and also an extradition treaty. This is the first known such treaty in history.

Thirteen years after the conclusion of this treaty in the thirty-fourth year of his reign, Rameses married the daughter of the Hittite prince. Her Egyptian name was Ueret-ma-a-neferu-Ra, meaning “Great One who sees the Beauties of Ra”. Although brave in battle, Rameses was innefectual as a general and never experienced any great victories like many of his forefathers had done. Maybe it was for this reason that Rameses spent most of the the rest of his life enlarging his image with huge building projects.

His name is found everywhere on monuments and buildings in Egypt and he frequently usurped the works of his predecessors and inscribed his own cartouche on statues which bear no relation to either him or any of his achievements. Instigating a minor repair on an obelisk was often sufficient excuse for him to have his name inscribed on every prominent part of the structure.