[1] Kadesh is identified with the ruins at Tell Nebi Mend,[2] about 24 kilometers (15 mi) southwest of Homs near al-Qusayr and adjacent to the modern-day Syrian village of Tell al-Nabi Mando.

Map of Syria in the second millennium BC, showing the location of Kadesh (Qadesh) The city first entered historical records when it was mentioned in the archive of Mari in the 18th century BC as the headquarter of king Ishi-Addu of Qatna who took up residence there to oversee the quelling of a rebellion in the south of the city.

Kadesh is first noted as one of two Canaanite cities (the other being Megiddo) that led a coalition of city-states opposing the conquest of the Levant by Thutmose III.

In mounting this opposition, the king of Kadesh was probably guided by the ruler of Mittani, Egypt's primary foreign rival in control of the Levant.

Defeat in the subsequent Battle of Megiddo ultimately led to the extension of Egyptian hegemony over the city, as well as the rest of southern Syria.

Although Amenophis II campaigned in the Djadi from then on until the reign of Horemheb (1319–1307) for a century and a half Canaan was independent of Egyptian rule.

Both Aziru of Amurru (Akkar Plain) and Etakkama of Kadesh became vassals of Suppiluliuma I. Qatna which had been the regional capital in the Middle Bronze now came to an end facing the Hittites.

An Egyptian vassal for approximately 150 years, Kadesh eventually defected to Hittite suzerainty, thereby placing the city on the contested frontier between the two rival empires.

In 1274 BC, the fifth year of Ramesses' reign, he led a large force of chariots and infantry 1,000 miles (1,600 km) to retake the walled city.

The subsequent impasse between Egypt and Hatti ultimately led to what is now recognised as one of the earliest surviving international peace treaties, concluded several decades later between Ramesses II and his Hittite counterpart, Hattusili III.

Continuous occupation throughout the Islamic period is likely, the mound having been named after a local Muslim saint or prophet, Nebi Mend.

In Byzantine times, widespread occupation is evidenced by extensive remains at the foot of the tell, which is believed to represent the city of Laodicea ad Libanum.

[8][9] The site was first excavated by a French team led by Maurice Pezard in 1922 and 1923, in the northeast quadrant of the upper mound.

[10] Finds included an incomplete stele of Pharaoh Seti I (c. 1294/1290–1279 BC) in a out of context Iron Age level, some stone statuettes and Syro-Hittite cylinder seals, and a terracotta figurine.

[11][12] The site was then excavated between 1975 and 1995 by a team from the University College London Institute of Archaeology led by Peter Parr.