| Ramesses Ii |
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| 1302 bc births | |
| 1213 bc deaths | |
| pharaohs of the nineteenth dynasty of egypt | |
| mummies | |
| human remains archaeological | |
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]] Ramesses II (also known as '''Ramesses the Great''' and alternatively Transcribed as '''Ramses''' and '''Rameses''') was an Egypt ian Pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty . He was born ca. 1302 BC . At age fourteen, Ramses II was appointed Prince Regent by his father. He is believed to have taken the throne in his early 20s, and reigned Egypt from either 1279 BC to 1213 BC or 1290 BC to 1224 BC for a total of 66 Years and 2 Months. He was once said to have lived to be 99 years old, but it is more likely that he died in his in his 90th or 92th year. Ancient Greek writers such as Herodotus attributed his accomplishments to the semi-mythical Sesostris , and he is traditionally believed to have been the Pharaoh of The Exodus . If he became king in 1279 BC as most Egyptologists today believe, he would taken the throne on May 31 , 1279 BC based on his known accession date of '''III Shemu day 27'''.(Beckerath, ''Chronologie'', pp.108 & 190) LIFE Ramses II was the third king of the 19th Dynasty , and the second son of Seti I and his Queen Tuya . Ramessses' older brother predeceased him before adulthood. The most memorable of Ramesses' wives was Nefertari . Others among his wives were Isisnofret and Maathorneferure , Princess of Hatti . The writer Terence Gray stated in 1923 that Ramesses II had as many as 20 sons and 20 daughters; more recent scholars, however, believe his offspring, while numerous, were far fewer. His children include Bintanath and Meritamen (princesses and their father's wives), Sethnakhte, the Pharaoh Merneptah (who succeeded him), and prince Khaemweset . Ramses led several expeditions north into the lands east of the Mediterranean (the location of the modern Israel , Lebanon and Syria ). At the Second Battle Of Kadesh towards the end of the fourth year of his reign ( 1274 BC ), Egyptian forces under Ramses engaged the forces of Muwatallis , king of the Hittites . The battle almost turned into a disaster for Ramses as he fell into a well laid trap set by Muwatallis whose infantry and chariotry were well hidden behind the eastern bank of the Orontes river under the command of the king's brother, Hattusili III . The Hittites attacked the Egyptian army which had been divided into 2 main forces--the Re and Amun brigades with Ramesses and the Ptah and Seth brigades--which which were separated from each other by many miles of forest and the far side of the Orontes river. (Tyldesley, Ramesses, pp.70-73) The Re Egyptian Army brigade was destroyed by the surprise Hittite chariot attack and Ramesses II had barely enough time on the field of battle to rally his own Amun brigade and secure reinforcements from the untouched Ptah Army Brigade who were just arriving upon the scene of the fighting to turn the tide against the Hittites. While Ramesses II had in theory 'won' the Battle of Kadesh, Muwatallis had effectively won the war because Ramesses was compelled to retreat south in haste while the Hittite commander Hattusili III relentlessy harried Ramesses' surviving forces as far as Damascus, according to the Hittite records at Boghazkoy . (Tyldesley, p.73) Egypt's sphere of imfluence was thus restricted to Canaan while Syria fell into Hittite hands. Over the following years, Rameses II would return to campaign against the Hittites and even achieved several spectacular victories--at a time of internal Hittite weakness due to a fight over Muwatallius' succession to briefly capture the cities of Tunip, where no Egyptian soldier had been seen since the time of Thutmose III and the City of Kadesh in his 8th Year. However, neither power could effectively defeat the other in battle. Consequently, in the twenty-first year of his reign ( 1258 BC ), Ramses decided to conclude an agreement with the new Hittite king and rival at Kadesh, Hattusili III, to end the conflict. The ensuing document remains the earliest known Peace Treaty in world history. Ramesses II also campaigned south of the First Cataract into Nubia . He constructed many impressive monuments, including the renowned archeological complex of Abu Simbel , and the Mortuary Temple known as the Ramesseum , it is said that there are more statues of him in existence than of any other Egyptian pharaoh. {Link without Title} MUMMY He was buried in the . As with most Pharaoh s, Ramesses had a number of names. The two most important, his ''praenomen'' (regnal name) and ''nomen'' (birth name) are shown in Egyptian Hieroglyph s above to the right. These names are Transliterated as wsr-m3‘t-r‘–stp-n-r‘ r‘-ms-sw–mry-ỉ-mn, which is usually written as ''Usermaatra-setepenra Ramessu-meryamen''. It translates as "Powerful one of Maat , the Justice of Ra is Powerful, chosen of Ra, Ra bore him, beloved of Amun ". In the Hittite copy of the above-mentioned peace treaty with Hattusilis, the Pharaoh's name appears as Washmuaria Shatepnaria Riamashesha Maiamana. Some scholars believe this should be considered as perhaps a closer approximation of the actual vocalization of the Egyptian king's name. THE PHARAOH OF THE EXODUS? At least as early as Eusebius Of Caesarea , Ramesses II was identified with the pharaoh of whom the Biblical figure Moses is popularly believed to have demanded that his people be released from Slavery . The identification is sometimes disputed for several reasons:
Biblical accounts were, however, written from a particular perspective which did not necessarily place an emphasis on historical accuracy or detail, and caution sometimes should be taken in deriving historical information from Old Testament sources. Significantly, in this instance, the Bible specifically records that the Ancient Israelites were compelled to toil in slavery and build "for Pharaoh supply {Link without Title} cities, Pithom and Raamses" in the Egyptian Delta. (Exodus 1:11) The latter is almost certainly a reference to the city of '''Pi-Ramesse Aa-nakhtu''' or the "House of Ramesses-Great-of-Victories" (modern day Qantir) in the Delta which had been Seti I's summer retreat. Ramesses II greatly enlarged this city as an important forward base for his military campaigns into the Levant and his control over Canaan. According to . (Kitchen, OROT, pp.662) Therefore, Ramses II was probably the Pharaoh who confronted Moses since king Sheshonq I , who founded the later 22nd Dynasty ruled Egypt from Tanis or perhaps Memphis but certainly not Pi-Ramesses. Speculation that Ramesses II was not the Biblical Pharaoh named ''Shishak'' who attacked Judah and seized war booty from Jerusalem in Year 5 of Rehoboam is unfounded because both Ramesses II and his 19th Dynasty successors (ie: Merneptah, Seti II, Siptah, Twosret) all retained firm control over Canaan during their reigns. Neither Israel nor Judah would have existed as independent entities at this time. For the most part, every single event in secular-recorded history correlates well with Biblical history (eg. compare the Egyptian invasion of Israel by Pharaoh Shishak (, Horemheb and Smenkare --if he/she had an independent reign. This creates more discrepancy than the Biblical chronology although the discrepancy does not exceed more than 10 years. SEE ALSO FURTHER READING
FICTION The life of Ramesses II has also inspired a large number of Historical Novel s, including the five volume series, ''Ramsès,'' by the French writer Christian Jacq . Translated editions are available for non-French readers. "Ramses II" is also claimed as a King Of Quendor in Zork I although he is not mentioned in any of the games or literature in the series. Ramesses II was also the main character in a book written by Anne Rice titled The Mummy or Ramses The Damned. Ramses II was portrayed by Yul Brynner in the classic film The Ten Commandments (1956). EXTERNAL LINKS |
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