Posted at Mar 25/2010 03:20PM:
Prof. B: I'm adding this page as a place for thoughts/communications about the battle that affect everyone instead of just single committees. Everyone should feel free to post to it, and everyone should read it regularly. So far I'm really excited about how well you guys are all pulling this together - a necessarily chaotic process but seriously fun.
The first main point to make here: THE DATE OF THE BATTLE HAS CHANGED. It is now 4/20 (and yes, I have been reminded that this means we are likely to have many mellow spectators and/or volunteers on the green). We'll spend 4/8 and 4/15 planning on the quiet green AND ATTENDANCE WILL BE TAKEN because we're at the point where you kind of screw over your committee if you don't show up and it'll affect your participation grade.
Posted at Mar 25/2010 04:17PM:
Prof. B: It was suggested that there be a lottery to choose generals (from within the class - no volunteers get to be anything other than peons). Anyone interested in generalship could take a number and we would then randomly pick numbers. Does this sound fair? Generals will have to do some extra work, making sure they are getting necessary information from just about all committees since they will be the ones transmitting overall plans to their troops. You know, like real life.
Posted at Mar 25/2010 06:27PM:
Prof. B: Yet another general point - some of the committees are going to need man-hours helping create things (I'm thinking weapons and costumes mostly, but battlements for the city of Kadesh itself, maybe?) If you either need extra help or are on a committee that involves a little less work and want to volunteer yourself, this is the place to shout out!
Posted at Mar 26/2010 08:28PM:
Vicki Wilson: Could those in the weapons group post their sources or share some general information? I'm the the role management group and we were hoping some of your sources/ideas might help with our research as well. Thanks!
Posted at Mar 26/2010 08:34PM:
Vicki Wilson: Also has anyone in class checked out the book called "Life and Society of the Hittite World" from the Rock? If it's at all possible could my group borrow it shortly during class? It would be a big help to our research
Posted at Apr 06/2010 10:20PM:
Prof. B: I just had an awesome idea! (It's entirely possible you guys have already come up with a way to deal with this, in which case ignore me.) We can give rubber gloves to all the Hittites who are supposed to die; they can blow them up so that "hands" can be collected as trophies and heaped in a pile.
Posted at Apr 06/2010 10:26PM:
Hamoon Eshraghi: As timing and troop movement is an essential component of the battle, I will do my best to make a big poster of the the general chronology and spacing of the battle. However, it seemed to me that it was quite difficult to find sound facts for the numbers of troops. Is there any committee that is at least partly responsible for figuring out how many troops there were in each kind of division?
Posted at Apr 08/2010 04:46PM:
Mara Satink: I'm on the tactics committee, but I would be happy to put in some some hours cutting out swords or piecing things together...whatever is needed. Getting a tactile sense of the weapons will also be important if we tactics people are going to train volunteers how to wield them.
Posted at Apr 08/2010 06:52PM:
It might be useful for the kings and generals to post their roles here so that's all in one place in case anyone needs it. (I'm an Egyptian general.)
Posted at Apr 10/2010 01:30PM:
Prof. B: It is NECESSARY for all the generals to post their roles here (with their names, anonymous general above!) and if they aren't up by Monday morning I will send a big e-mail. I didn't write down who won the lottery, so there is zero record of who the generals are, and it's not something we should waste time with on Tuesday in class.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dani Candelora: ok guys here's what we came up with in terms of sequence of events
GENERAL BATTLE SEQUENCE
- START: with Hittites in front of Qadesh, all Egyptian divisions (except Na'arn) south of Shabtuna (SW corner of green)
- Na'arn will be hidden behind Carrie tower until the right time)
- Hittite spies reach division of Amun at Shabtuna (they give Ramesses the all clear)
- Division of Amun marches
- when they cross the curve in the Orontes, the Hittites begin to circle around far side of Qadesh to their final camp on the main green
- Other divisions start marching, spaced appropriately (Seth division should never move)
- Division of Amun reaches campsite, sets up and sends out 2 scouts
- Scouts return with news that the Hittites are camped on the other side of the city
- The Hittite spies are tortured
> Hittites should begin moving for attack approximately when the Division of Re crosses the curve in the Orontes
- Division of Re reaches the gap between Slater and University Hall
- Surprise attack of Hittites
- Messenger from Re is sent to Egyptian camp
- Messenger from Egyptian camp is sent to division of Ptah
---- BATTLE ----
- Troops from Re flee, with approximately 1/3 dying, 1/3 fleeing to Egyptian camp, 1/6 off the green towards the Rock, and 1/6 to Ptah
>From camp getting set up to about here should happen really quickly, with some things going on at same time
- Hittites reach the Egyptian camp from all sides, but thinnest on the East (side with the Orontes)
- Ramesses pushes East, driving some Hittites into river
- Some Hittite troops (western side) plunder Egyptian camp
- Almost simultaneously:
- Na'arn march in from North/Northwest (behind Carrie tower)
- Hittite second (counter) attack hits from the South/Southeast
---- BATTLE -----
- Division of Ptah arrives from south
---- BATTLE ------
- Between Ramesses and division of Ptah the Hittites get pinched back into Qadesh
- Egyptian deserters return and Ramesses makes angry speech
---------- OVERNIGHT ---------------
- Hittites line up in front of Qadesh, Egyptians facing them from in front of camp
------ BATTLE -------
- Eventually Egyptians drive Hittites back to Qadesh
- Collection of hands, plundering, etc
- Ramesses smites the watermelon
END SCENE.
The timesheet that spells out how this narrative will occur is posted on the Master narrative of events page. Please let us know if there are issues here with the narrative, either in terms of accuracy or in terms of causing problems for your group's plans!! Thanks, Sarah
Posted at Apr 12/2010 12:57PM:
thompson: Thompson Warren - General (as yet unassigned to Egyptians or Hittites)
Posted at Apr 12/2010 02:12PM:
William Martin: Egyptian General. Tactics Committee.
Posted at Apr 12/2010 05:48PM:
Hamoon Eshraghi: Mutawallis, King of the Hittities
Posted at Apr 12/2010 10:52PM:
Jon Casper: 2nd Hittite General, member of terrain/topography committee
Morgan Li: General
Posted at Apr 13/2010 12:35AM:
andrewrapp: I posted the very basic outline for the map above. Let our group (terrain and topography) know if you have any suggestions or questions.
Posted at Apr 13/2010 01:24AM:
Mara Satink: I know I'm not on the publicity committee, but since I'm apparently the class's resident Photoshop nerd, I spent a couple of hours messing around and came up with some potential posters and table slips. It'll be up the PR people to tell me what they want written specifically - I have the .psd files ready to edit at any point. I also have an engineering account for printing out table slips and color posters. I'll attach what I've come up with so far to the wiki, right below this post...suggestions are welcome!
Posted at Apr 13/2010 02:15AM:
Mara Satink: And, for table slips, just because I COULDN'T resist:
Posted at Apr 13/2010 02:18AM:
Mara Satink: If anybody has any images of Hittite forces/ideas for Hittite style posters, please email me! @ [email protected]
Posted at Apr 13/2010 12:27PM:
Dylan Cashman: I am a Hittite general
tess plant-thomas is a spy!
Max Gindi is Maximus, General of Seth, the PASSIVE GENERAL that gives a rousing speech on the second day of battle, leading the Egyptians to eventual victory
Posted at Apr 13/2010 04:09PM:
andrewrapp: Here's a more final version of the map. If your group runs into any issues with this just shoot me an email at [email protected]
Posted at Apr 13/2010 08:57PM:
Peter Hatch: Just so we're clear, since there is a lot of variation, can we standardize whether we are using Kadesh vs. Qadesh, how we write the name of each division, and perhaps even pick a chronology to favor (Healy: 1300, Breasted: 14th cent. BC, Spalinger c. 1285, somewhere else I don't remember c. 1274)? It would be nice if all our materials were uniform. Would anyone who has an opinion on these matters please weigh in?
EDIT: Oh wow, this seems like it should be a dumb question...but what about Ramesses (Spalinger) vs. Ramses (Beasted) vs. Rameses (Healy)? What's most common otherwise?
Posted at Apr 13/2010 09:44PM:
Mara Satink: Good plan. I personally vote "Kadesh"...I'm not sure, but I think someone mentioned that we were favoring the Healy chronology?
Posted at Apr 15/2010 04:40PM:
Andrew_Mathis: Here's a copy of the map that will be distributed to spectators. The numbers correspond to references in the narrative explanation that will also be handed out. Please e-mail me (@brown.edu) if there need to be any corrections.
Posted at Apr 15/2010 07:01PM:
Jon Casper: If anyone needs some inspiration.... http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1893373
Posted at Apr 15/2010 09:26PM:
Adam Greenberg: Hey Mara, I'm on the PR committee and I think your table slip design would make an awesome addition. If you could email it to me at [email protected] I'll take care of distribution. Thanks!
Posted at Apr 16/2010 12:50PM:
aeber: Costume list
Muwatallis: White t-shirt painted with Gold scales. Gold tipped Spear. Royal chariot. Hittites Commanders: White t-shirt painted with Gold scales. Gold tipped Spear. Hittite Charioteer 1: White t-shirt or sash. Cardboard shield spray painted with a gold circle. Wheel tied to outside leg. Hittite Charioteer 2: White t-shirt or sash. String reigns. Hittite Charioteer 3: White t-shirt or sash. Spear with a grey tip. Wheel tied to outside leg. *Note the whole Chariot team will be tied together with twine. * Hittite infantry: White t-shirt or sash. Dagger and a few will get spears.
Egyptian Pharaoh: Pharaoh costume. Khopesh. Smiting weapon. Blue crown. Royal chariot. Egyptian Commanders: Brown t-shirt covered in gold scales. Khopesh. Egyptian charioteer 1: Brown t-shirt or sash. String reigns. Wheel tied to outside leg. Egyptian Charioteer 2: Brown t-shirt or sash. Bow. Brown paper wrist guard. Cardboard wheel tied to leg. *Note the whole Chariot team will be tied together with twine. * Egyptian Infantry: Brown t-shirt or sash. Cardboard axe spray painted and reinforced with duct tape. There will also be a few with cardboard shields spray painted black and white like cow hide. Egyptian Archers: Brown t-shirt or sash. Brown paper wrist guard. Bow. Sherdens: brown t-shirts or sashes. Bike helmets with cardboard horns. Typical tapered sword. Nubians: Black t-shirts. Bow. Brown paper wrist guard. *Note All divisions will have standards!*
Posted at Apr 18/2010 10:21PM:
Cecilia Bahamon: Cecilia Bahamon as Hittite Spy (Bedouin!)
Egyptian Warfare training.docx
Posted at Apr 19/2010 03:19PM:
Kevin Thomas: I just posted the training guide! Give it a look over--it describes in brief how we will run boot camp, how the weapons will work, and the few rules regarding behavior. Pretty much move slowly, stay with your division, don't go for the head, and obey orders. Simple enough.
Posted at Apr 19/2010 10:47PM:
Rohan Ramesh: This is just an addition for tactics people and generals on how we are supposed to move. I realize with the number of people this is most likely totally unrealistic, but anyways. Marching Formations
- Supposed to be 10 people across and 20 people deep
- Important thing- maintain a column of soldiers (fewer people across and more people deep)
- Chariots travel out in front of the column of soldiers (for Egyptians)
- Easiest will be for people with standards to be in the front so they can be seen
- Soldiers while marching placed shields on their backs- completely unprepared to fight
o Goal was for them to move quickly (even though we aren’t going to)
Posted at Apr 20/2010 12:08PM:
Fariha Ali: Ria Ali is a Hittite Spy (Bedouin)
Morgan Li Check out the press coverage about us!
