Image Details

Drawing of the seige of Gezer. A gigantic image of pharaoh tramples the enemy and threatens the defenders atop the walls of Gezer, at the left end of the two central courses. This scene stands to the left of the Peace Treaty, on panels that formerly held reliefs of Ramesses II’s battle at Kadesh. Someone, either Ramesses II’s men or Merenptah’s, imperfectly erased the Kadesh battle reliefs, leaving behind many traces, including water represented by the wavy lines at the bottom of scene 2.

Like the relief of the Ashkelon battle, this scene depicts a besieged city on the left side balanced by pharaoh and his forces on the right. This composition contrasts sharply with scene 4, identified by the author as the battle with the Israelites, in which pharaoh and his men fight in the middle of the cityless enemy.