Rachael's Views: Ramses II

King Ramses the II, also known as Ramses the Great, was the third ruler during Egypt's nineteenth dynasty. He ruled from 1304 to 1237 BC, and was regarded as the greatest pharaoh in Egyptian history. During his long reign of 67 years, everything was done on a grand scale. No other pharaoh constructed so many temples or erected so many colossal statues and obelisks. (Clayton, 146) He provided the strong rule that Egypt so desperately needed.

Ramses also remains a significant Pharaoh to the story of the Exodus. (Shuter 35) The Hebrew people were set to work on the construction of the many new temples for the Pharaoh. God, taking pity of the Hebrew people, commanded Pharaoh to let them go. Pharaoh stubbornly resisted and endured many disasters until all the first born Egyptian children mysteriously died; it was then that he finally let them go.
Ramses II was born to Queen Tuy and his father Seti I in the year 1279 B.C. He was well informed at a young age that he was his family's only hope of keeping power in Egypt, since his older brother had passed away. Beginning his reign at about the age of twenty, it is recorded that he had eight wives. His two main wives were Nefertari and Istnofet. It was presumed that he had over one hundred kids with his collection of wives.

He set out on many campaigns to return territories that had been previously owned by the Nubians and to secure Egypt's borders. He displayed that he was a productive ruler when he fought to reclaim territory in Africa and Western Asia. He focused on defeating his main enemy- the Hittites. During his fifth year as pharaoh, he led a campaign known as the Battle of Kadesh. Ramses II tried to keep the newly acquired territory (modern- day Syria) but lost the battle to his enemy. Seen as an impasse, Ramses II pulled back and Kadesh remained with the Hittites once more. However, a peace treaty was later signed which divided the territory. He also attacked other enemy groups within his duration as pharaoh, such as the Libyans and the Nubians; this depicted his military might.

One of the greatest accomplishments of Rameses II, and seen throughout his reign, was his love for architecture, and he stands unsurpassed among the pharaohs of Egypt as a monument builder. There are accounts of his honor hewn on stone, statues, and remains of palaces and temples. The most prominent being the Ramesseum in western Thebes and at the rock temples of Abu Simbel. The great complex of Ramesseum was built in between the Qurna and a desert known as Ramesseum. The compound stood as a monument of the great pharaoh and his army for achieving success over the Hittite forces. This was built in epic proportion in order to indicate that his legacy would survive the threshold of time. The building of these monuments indicated the beginning of the pharaoh's passion for building.

In year 67, or 1212 BC, the great pharaoh, who was perhaps 96 years of age when he died, was buried in the famous location of the Valley of Kings. After the death of Ramses II this brought to a conclusion the last climax of Egypt's imperial power with few Pharaohs ever equaling his greatness as Ramses was an impressive ruler with his kingdom prospering greatly throughout his reign. It is often said that the popular perception of him was "as a model of what a king should be." (Baikie 234)It is apparent as to why he was known as Ramses the Great and even to this day, no structures are as brilliant as the structures built in that day. Ramses’ mummy can be seen in Cairo’s Egyptian museum.