Antiquity History

Article · Ancient Egypt

Ramesses II: The Great Pharaoh of Egypt

Ramesses II (c. 1303–1213 BCE), also known as Ramesses the Great, was the second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt (the founder of the dynasty, Ramesses I, reigned only about two years, 1292–1290 BCE) and one of the most powerful, most famous, and most prolific pharaohs in Egyptian history. He ruled Egypt for sixty-six years (the conventional chronology; some modern scholars place the start at 1279 or 1304 BCE), longer than almost any other pharaoh whose reign can be precisely dated, and he left behind more monuments, more statues, more inscriptions, and more children than any other ruler of Egypt. He is the pharaoh of the biblical Exodus (in some interpretations), the husband of the famous queen Nefertari, and the hero of the Battle of Kadesh, one of the earliest battles for which we have a detailed tactical record. The Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (1st c. BCE) called him Ozymandias, after the Egyptian User-Maat-Re Setep-en-Ra; Herodotus (5th c. BCE) knew him as Sesostris. Percy Bysshe Shelley’s famous sonnet “Ozymandias” (1818) took the Greek name from Diodorus and used the fallen colossus of the Ramesseum as a symbol of the transience of earthly power.

Ramesses II ruled Egypt for sixty-six years, had more children than almost any other pharaoh, and left more statues of himself in more places than any other ruler in the ancient world. He was probably the pharaoh of the Exodus (in some traditions), the husband of the famous queen Nefertari, and the loser of the Battle of Kadesh — although the Egyptians described Kadesh as a glorious victory and the Hittite records suggest something less. The Greeks knew him as Ozymandias, which is the name Shelley’s sonnet borrowed for a famous poem about the transience of power. Continue through the Egyptian Pharaohs cluster, the Ancient Egypt pillar, and the Mummification and the Afterlife cluster.

The Early Life of Ramesses

Ramesses II was born around 1303 BCE, the son of Seti I, a pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty, and Queen Tuya. The family was of relatively humble origin — Seti’s father, Ramesses I, had been a military officer who was chosen to succeed the last pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Ramesses was educated as a prince, and at the age of fourteen he was appointed regent by his father, who led the army in the Syrian wars.

In 1279 BCE, Seti I died and Ramesses became pharaoh at the age of about twenty-four. He took the throne name Usermaatre Setepenre (“Powerful is the Justice of Ra, Chosen of Ra”) and the shorter form Ramessu (Ramesses), meaning “Ra has fashioned him.” He was crowned at Thebes, the religious capital of Egypt, in a ceremony attended by the high priests of Amun.

The Battle of Kadesh

Ramesses’ most famous military exploit was the Battle of Kadesh, fought in 1274 BCE against the Hittite king Muwatalli II. The battle was fought near the city of Kadesh on the Orontes River in Syria, and it was the culmination of a long war between Egypt and the Hittite Empire over control of Syria-Palestine.

According to the Egyptian account (preserved in the inscriptions of Ramesses at Karnak, Luxor, and the Ramesseum, and on the walls of the temple of Abu Simbel), Ramesses was caught by the Hittites while on the march and was almost captured. He fought his way out with a small force, saved the Egyptian army from destruction, and was personally responsible for the Egyptian victory. According to the Hittite account (preserved in the Hittite archives at Hattusa), the Hittites had the better of the day, and the Egyptians were forced to withdraw.

The battle ended in a tactical draw, and the war was concluded in 1258 BCE by a peace treaty — the earliest known surviving peace treaty in the world. The treaty was inscribed on silver tablets, copies of which were preserved both in Egypt and in Hattusa. The famous peace of Ramesses is now displayed in the Istanbul Archaeology Museums and the United Nations headquarters in New York.

The Building Program of Ramesses

Ramesses was one of the most prolific builders in Egyptian history. He built more monuments, more temples, more statues, and more obelisks than any other pharaoh. The most important of his monuments were:

The Family of Ramesses

Ramesses was famous for his enormous family. He had eight principal wives, including the famous queen Nefertari, whose tomb (QV66) in the Valley of the Queens is one of the most beautifully decorated in Egypt. He had more than 100 children, the most of any pharaoh in Egyptian history. His son Khaemwaset was a famous priest and archaeologist who helped restore many of the older monuments. His son Merneptah succeeded him on the throne and was probably the pharaoh of the Exodus.

The Death of Ramesses

Ramesses died around 1213 BCE, at the age of about ninety, after a reign of sixty-six years. He was buried in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings, but his body was later moved to a hiding place in Deir el-Bahari, where it was discovered in 1881. The mummy is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and the famous scientific examination of the mummy in 1976 revealed that Ramesses was a red-haired man, about 1.71 meters (5 feet 7 inches) tall, with a strong jaw and a hooked nose.

The Legacy of Ramesses

Ramesses was the most famous pharaoh of his own time, and he has remained the most famous pharaoh of all time. The Greek historian Diodorus Siculus called him Ozymandias, and his ruined statue inspired the famous sonnet by Shelley. The legendary wealth and power of the pharaohs of Egypt, as known to the modern world, is largely the legacy of Ramesses the Great.

The modern Egyptian government has restored many of Ramesses’ monuments, and the colossal statue of Ramesses in Cairo is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Egypt. The mummy of Ramesses, on display in the Egyptian Museum, is one of the most visited exhibits in the world.