Ramesses II also known as Ramesses the Great was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt; he was born from a family of non-royal origins as the second son of his father seti.At 14 he was selected as Prince Regent by his father. It is believed that he took 1279 BC and had the second longest reign in Egyptian history. He was an extravagant builder, In his early years of reign he spent most of his work in very broad building programs
Background
The great Ramesses II was born in 1303 b c in Egypt. When he was young, he underwent an excellent training from his father. This was for his father to ensure that he would become a great warrior when he was crowned. In some of his training activities, he was able to kill a fierce and a wild bull. Plus so many other challenges which he was able to overcome. This is guaranteed at his tender age that he would become great.
He was appointed as Prince Regent by his father Seti when he was 14 years old, and it He that he was crowned at his late teen, and he ruled 1279 BC to 1213 BC. Today the ecologist believes that he would have assumed the throne on May 31, 1279, BC. He died at the age of either 90 or 91 either July or August 1213 BC. However being one of the mighty great men on earth during his life, he did not have any control over his physical remains after he died. His mummified was moved from one place to another even from the robbers whom could have interfered with it.
After he had died, he was buried in the Valley of the Kings but later his body was relocated to a royal cache where it was revealed in 1881, and now it is on display in a museum in Cairo.
Early when Ramesses II was young in his reign embarked on numerous campaigns with to return earlier held territories back from Nubian and Hittite hands and to secure Egypt's borders. He also suppressed some Nubian revolts and carried out a campaign in Libya. During his reign, the Egyptian army had about 100,000 men who were able army a formidable force that he used he became Victor.
He built a lot of He built large palaces and temples, and he left prosperity numerous inscriptions of steel obelisks and wall, many of these inscriptions up to date holds the account of all the battle he fought the maps of the battlefield he fought others show the pictures of his army and those of his enemies.
Education
Ramess II was educated by his father. He engaged him in very rough conditions where he had to be burnt by the sun. Sometimes he got into an encounter where he killed a wild bull. He was able to overcome all the battles he came through and finally they won.
Career
Between 279 BCE - 1212 BCERamesses II Reigned as a Great in Egypt. Ramesses II was also known by the Egyptians Userma'atre'setepenre which means 'Keeper of Harmony and Balance, Strong in Right, Elect of Ra. Also, some people knew him as aOzymandias and as Ramesses the Great. At the age of 14, he joined his father on military campaigns in Libya and Palestine. At 22 he had already started working, and he was now leading his campaigns in Nubia with his son. He then built a parish at Avaris. At a point, he had assumed the thrown and began military campaigns to restore the borders of Egypt safeguard the trade routes, and take back from the Hittites which he felt deep inside belonged to him.
In 1274 he fought the Battle of Kadesh between Pharaoh Ramesses II of Egypt and King Muwatalli II of the Hittites. This was one of the grates battles which made him very famous. He fought this fight with a lot of passion and finally he emerged as a winner.
Between 1264 - 1244 BCE or 1244-1224 BCE he constructed the Abu Simbel, which refers to as a temple.The temples were two, the great one and the smaller one.They are located at the second cataract of the Nile River the temples was built to celebrate part of Ramesses' victory over the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh. In 1258 BCE at the very first time peace treaty between Ramesses II of Egypt and Muwatalli II of the Hittites was recorded this was just after the battle of Kadesh.
Later he devoted himself, and he started doing some work which was meant to improve their living, he developed the Egypt's infrastructure strengthened its borders and commissioned vast building projects honoring his victory of 1274 and his other accomplishments. Currently, some people tends to associate him with the pharaoh from the biblical Book of Exodus, but there are no historical or archaeological evidence for this.
Ramses II reigned for 66 years and two months. During the reign of Ramses II, he fought three main enemies the Syrian vassal states, the Lybian tribes and the Hittite Empire. The Syrian vassal states they had given up under Sethi I against the Egyptian authority, but after Ramses II had taken the throne, they throne they tried to become independent again from the Egyptian Empire. The same case was with the Lybian tribes, they sought to free themselves from the Egypt, and they were even more antagonistic than the Syrian vassal states that even in the era of "peace of the Egyptian authorization they descend Egyptian caravans. The biggest enemy was the Hittite Empire whom he had to fight even more to stop them from spreading the on the Egyptians borders.
During Ramses II reign he created umpteen buildings; he built and enlarged a bunch of temple and buildings. Some of which his father had started and others he made them newly. One of his buildings is Pi-Ramesses this was soon after the demise of his father revealed the old Hyksos center to his new capital city later the city expanded significantly up to the area of 12 square miles.
Abu Simbel is another example of his buildings, this was a temple which was located in the formal Nubia these were two massive temples which still exist up to date. The entrance of every temple is bordered by four giant statues of Ramses each one of them being 20 meters high. The construction started at 1244 B.C and ended in 1224 B.C. the most famous monuments and architecture, for example, the statue of himself.
Ramses 11 built a shrine for his father which was called The Ramesseum. it was located in the West-Thebes. Also, it was the temple of the God Amun and his family. Later it spread over the area, and some of the remains were
The Abydos temple where the history of his reign who.
-Akshay-Temple this was the Gods Temple and today only one wall is conserved
Achievements
Religion
Ramses11 had an enormous impact on religion this can be proven by a list of few things that he did. Under his rule, he manipulated the people’s religion and were able to turn completely back to the religion cult. Which was followed King Akhenaton came to power and brought up the Aton cult as religion. By then Aton was their God. After he had ruled for 30 years they celebrated the Seed Festival where Pharaoh was officially revolved into a comprehensive God. He was then worshiped as the God. Later Merneptah took over as Pharaoh, and no one tried to seize the throne.
Politics
On his fourth year of reigning, Ramses II had his first campaign against a Syrian kingdom. They had a serious provocation for the Hittite Empire, and they had to fight hard for ascendancy over Syria his army was about 20000 strong men while that of the Hittite Empire had 40000 men strong when the two came together 12th of May 1274 for war. At the end of these campaigns both of these groups did not benefit. The big mistake he did was dividing his forces where one of his divisions got to sweep away; the Hittite also made a couple of errors, and they ended up losing all. Back in Egypt, he let the battle proclaimed as a huge victory, and the sequence of the fight became renowned in many of his temples and buildings. During his military campaign, he was able to make the borders of Egypt secure from pirates invading, and he stormed back attack of Lybian people.
Views
The image of Ramesses II was designed to give him out to the world as a beneficent ruler a living God and a mighty warrior.it was instituted t at Ramesseum - his mortuary temple where his culf will continue to live for centuries. During the reign Ramesses II river Nile repeatedly flooded and reached ideal levels which resulted in good harvests and a period of increased in Egypt. He all by himself was able to feed all his children and their wives. Ramesses II owed his reputation to his skills as a self-publicist he created more statues than any other Egyptian pharaoh and also changed some inscriptions previous pharaohs' statues to glorify himself.
Personality
Ramsses II died 1213 BC at an ancient age in Egypt he was the third king of the 19th dynasty of ancient Egypt. He is known as the most powerful of the Pharaohs or in other words, he is called Ramses the Great a name he was given by his grandfather. At 14 years he was chosen a successor to the thrown and at fifteen he took his first wife. He loved his nation, and he fought the Hittites and any other whom tried to interfere with them. Out of his generosity up to date, we find many buildings which he constructed during his reign. He ruled for more than 66 years and acquired more than 100 wives where even two of his daughters were raised to be his He he had a great affection for his people that after peace was declared, he took a step of putting down several uprisings among his citizens.
Physical Characteristics:
Ramesses II was a very powerful man and a great warrior
Quotes from others about the person
"The one for whom the sun shines - Ramsses II"
- Michelle Moran
Interests
art, victory
Connections
Ramesses II was the second son of site. He had several wives and also concubines. His first queen was Nefertiti he was gorgeous as well as intelligent and also very educated. she could read and write hieroglyphs a skill which was rare at that time. She passed on very young early husband in his reign. It is believed that he had over 100 children 48–50 sons and 40–53 daughters and very many wives some of the wives were Isetnofret, Maathorneferure Bintanath, and Meritamen. He lived along life where later in his last days he was attacked by several health problems where he later died.
Relatives and colleagues
He was the second born of his father Seti and was named after his grandfather Ramses I his brother who was to take the thrown instead of him died while getting an education. He had a great family. He had a solid connection with his associates that even when they went out for battles they won.
Father:
Seti I
Mother:
Tuya
Wife:
Nefertari
Wife:
Isetnofret
Wife:
Maathorneferure
Wife:
Meritamen
Wife:
Bintanath
Wife:
Nebettawy
Wife:
Henutmire
References
Ramses II: Egyptian Pharaoh, Warrior, and Builder By Stephanie Fitzgerald
Ramesses II (Hero Journals)
What was it like to live in Ancient Egypt? More specifically, what was it like to become Pharaoh of Egypt as a teenager? Why not let Ramesses II tell you about it? You’ll read about his accomplishments and failures, as well as what day-to-day life was like for him, his subjects, and his slaves. A postscript explains what happened after he died.