How to research historical sources

 Spalinger, A. J. (1980). Historical Observations on the Military Reliefs of Abu Simbel and Other Ramesside Temples in Nubia. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 66, 83–99. https://doi.org/10.2307/3856392

Secondary source

Evidence from the source

(Not counted in word limit)

"To the west-this time flanking the entrance corridor to the second hall-are two further traditional scenes. At the north the king is shown leading defeated Hittites to Re-Harakhty and 'Iws-r.s (the figure of the deified Ramesses was clearly added to the scene subsequently). Unlike the texts on the eastern wall, the inscriptions accompanying this ritual act are more precise - Hatti is specifically mentioned twice and the captives are defeated Hittites. The inscription on the southern half of the west wall mentions Kush. The bound captives that are led to Amen-Re and Mut (again, the figure of the deified Ramesses is a later addition) are southerners. The entire north wall is devoted to the battle of Kadesh and is connected, of course, with the scene on the northern half of the west wall. This scene presents a terminus a quo of Year 5 for the carving of these reliefs, whereas the others so far covered cannot be dated simply on the basis of Ramesses II's career as sole Pharaoh.”

[pg. 86]

This source is an academic article from Emeritus Professor, Anthony Spalinger. He is an Egyptologist at the University of Aukland in New Zealand who specialises in military campaigns of Ramses II. It was written in 1980 at the conclusion of his close analysis of military reliefs on the temple walls at Abu Simbel in an effort to share his findings with other academics in his field. 

This article is written by an expert in the field of Egyptology, by an academic who specialises specifically in Ramses II. Therefore, this is a very reliable source of information about the military campaigns of the pharaoh. However, this was published in 1980, which is more than 40 years old now. Since much more research has been conducted by other researchers since then, Spalinger’s findings may now be out-of-date, which could potentially lower its reliability somewhat. Regardless, despite its older information, its summary and descriptions remain relevant, so is still a predominantly reliable source of information. 

The article provides explicit detail about the regions and conquests of Ramses during his early reign. It specifically identifies “Hati” and “Kush” as the peoples that were the victims of his early expansion. It also alludes to the fact that the battles depicted were glorified representations and probably do not provide entirely accurate descriptions of individual battles. 

As a result, this is a very useful source in answering my inquiry question about the success of Ramses as a military leader. Since it states that “the king is shown leading defeated Hittites”, it provides clear evidence of Ramses’ participation in victorious military campaigns in the northern and southern regions of the Egyptian empire.