Ramesses II

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Ramesses II (also known as Ramesses the Great and alternatively transcribed as Ramses and Rameses) was an Egyptian 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 late 80's or in his 90th 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.

1 Life
2 The Pharaoh of the Exodus?
3 See also
4 Further reading
5 Fiction
6 External links

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Life

Ramses II was the third king of the 19th dynasty, and the son of Seti I and his Queen Tuya. 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), Setnakht (Sethnakhte), the Pharaoh Merneptah (who succeeded him), and prince Khaemweset. Image:Rammumy.jpg 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 in the fourth year of his reign (1274 BC), Egyptian forces under Ramses engaged the forces of Muwatallis, king of the Hittites. Over the following years, neither power could effectively defeat the other. Consequently, in the twenty-first year of his reign (1258 BC), Ramses concluded an agreement with Hattusilis III, which is claimed to be the earliest known surviving peace treaty in world history. Ramses was said to have built the most monuments and statues of all the pharohs.

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 pharaohTemplate:Fact.

He was buried in the Valley of the Kings, in KV7, but his mummy was later moved to the mummy cache at Deir el-Bahri, where it was found in 1881 and placed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo five years later, where it is still exhibited with pride by the Egyptian people. Ramesses was approximately five feet and seven inches in height.Template:Fact He likely suffered from terrible arthritis in his joints during the later years of his life, and gum disease.Template:Fact His successor was his son Merneptah.

As with most pharaohs, Ramesses had a number of names. The two most important, his praenomen (regnal name) and nomen (birth name) are shown in Egyptian hieroglyphs 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 realised as something like Usermaatra-setepenra Ramessu-meryamen. They can be translated as "Powerful one of Maat and Ra, 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.

Timeline: 1314-Ramses II is born 1306-Ramses at eight years, Horemheb dies, Ramses I reigns. 1305-Ramses at nine years, Ramses I dies. 1304-Ramses at ten years, Ramses II is named commander in chief of Egypt Army 1300-Ramses at fourteen years, Ramses II named Prince Regent 1299-Fifteen years, Ramses II has a military campaign in Libya 1298-sixteen years, Military campaign in Syria 1292-Twenty-two years,unaided military campaigns 1290-twenty-four years, Ramses II begins to reign. 1286-Twenty-eight years, Military campaign in Hittite lands 1285-Twenty-nine years, War with Hittites at fourty-four years he has the worlds first peace treaty 1266- Fourty-eight years Nefertari dies 1223-ninty-one years Ramses II dies after a 67 year reign.

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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 problematic for several reasons:

Ramesses II was not drowned in the Sea, although the biblical account makes no specific claim that the pharaoh was with his army when they were "swept ... into the sea." (See Exodus 14)
There is nothing in the archaeological or textual record of his reign suggesting the Plagues of Egypt or anything similar. (Not entirely true. Although not proven, the Tempest Stele of Ahmose I makes strikingly similar references to the Egyptian Plagues account written in Exodus. For more information, read "Tempest & Exodus" a book by author Ralph Ellis. Though true, it was not during Ramses II reign, but Ahmose I, a strong candidate of the Pharaoh of the Exodus)

Biblical accounts were, however, written from a particular perspective which does not necessarily place an emphasis on historical accuracy or detail, and caution should be taken in deriving historical information from old testament sources.

However, 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 to the Biblical story found in 2 Chronicles 12:3-4 & 1 Kings 14:25-26) . In the particular topic of supposed biblical inaccuracy, we must also understand that secular history was indeed also written from the point of view of the civilization (compare the terms of the treaties between Egypt under Ramses II and the Hittites). What is undoubtedly more uncertain is Egyptian chronology as several Egyptologists debate on the reigning years of particular rulers of Pharaohs, considerably in earlier dynasties pre-Ramses II era, even more so discrepancy than biblical chronology. Certain point-of-view is therefore irrelevant in the preceding argument.

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Fiction

The life of Ramesses II has also inspired a large number of historical novels, 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).

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