1270s BC

Events and trends

• 1279 BC — Pharaoh Seti I dies.
• c. 1279 BC — Troy VI, speculated to be the city mentioned in Homer's Iliad, is presumed to have been destroyed by Greek armies.
• c. 1279 BC (May 31) — Ramesses II (19th dynasty) becomes pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.
• c. 1279 BC–1213 BC — Temple of Ramesses II in Abu Simbel, Nubia (19th dynasty) was built. Wall painting of Queen Nefertari making an offering to the god Isis in the tomb of Nefertari was made. The tomb is located in the Valley of the Queens in Egypt.
• c. 1279 BC – 1213 BC — Temple of Amun, Mut and Khons, Luxor, Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt, is built.
• 1278 BC — Ramesses II defeats the Shardana sea pirates.
• 1274 BC
  • The Battle of Kadesh (or Battle of Qadesh) in Syria, regarded as the largest (5–6,000) chariot vs. chariot battle in antiquity. The end of the Battle of Kadesh was followed by some 15 years of border warfare ended by the signing of the earliest known peace treaty between the Hittites and Egyptians, the Treaty of Qadesh. The treaty also formed an alliance— the Hittite and Egyptian Empires against the Assyrian Empire to the East.
  • Shalmaneser I becomes King of the Assyrian Empire.