Ramesses II (; , , ; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great,Prosperity during the reign of Ramses II (Britannica.com) was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Ramesses II is often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh of the New Kingdom, which itself was the most powerful period of ancient Egypt. He is also widely considered one of ancient Egypt's most successful warrior pharaohs, conducting no fewer than 15 military campaigns, all resulting in victories, excluding the Battle of Kadesh, which is generally considered a stalemate. His 66-year rule was also the longest recorded reign of any pharaoh (and one of the longest in history), possibly alongside Pepi II, who lived 1,000 years earlier and is said to have reigned for over 90 years.
In ancient Greek sources, he is called Ozymandias, derived from the first part of his Egyptian-language regnal name: . Contemporary documents, particularly cuneiform letters discovered at Hattusa indicate that the name Ramesses was pronounced Riamessesa and the full titulary pronounced Wasmuriya Satepnaria Riamessesa Maiamana.P. Brand, Ramesses II: Egypt's Ultimate Pharaoh (2023), pp. 86-89 Ramesses was also referred to as the "Great God" by successor pharaohs, who prayed to enjoy his longevity and glory.Ramesses IV at Abydos: Breasted, Ancient Records of EgyptVol. 4, §471; K. Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions: Translations, Vol. 6, pp. 20-21.
Ramesses ascended to the throne at age 25, and for the early part of his reign, he focused on building cities, temples, and monuments. After establishing the city of Pi-Ramesses in the Nile Delta, he designated it as Egypt's new capital and used it as the main staging point for his campaigns in Syria. Ramesses led several military expeditions into the Levant, where he reasserted Egyptian control over Canaan and Phoenicia; he also led a number of expeditions into Nubia, all commemorated in inscriptions at Beit el-Wali and Gerf Hussein. He celebrated an unprecedented thirteen or fourteen Sed festivals—more than any other pharaoh.
Estimates of his age at death vary, although 90 or 91 is considered to be the most likely figure. Upon his death, he was buried in a tomb (KV7) in the Valley of the Kings; his body was later moved to the Royal Cache, where it was discovered by archaeologists in 1881. Ramesses' mummy is now on display at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, located in the city of Cairo. Ramesses II was one of the few pharaohs who was worshipped as a deity during his lifetime.Habachi, L. (1969). Features of the Deification of Ramesses II; Brand, P. J. (2023). Ramesses II: Egypt’s Ultimate Pharaoh, pp. 381-406
Scholars dispute Ramesses II's association with the popular and contemporary depiction of him as the pharaoh of The Exodus, including former Secretary-General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Wazir and Jewish historian Lester L. Grabbe.
Early life Ramesses II was not born a prince. His grandfather, Ramesses I, was a vizier (tjaty) and military officer during the reign of pharaoh Horemheb, who appointed Ramesses I as his successor; at that time, Ramesses II was about eleven years old.Darnell, J. C., & Manassa, C. (2007). Tutankhamun's Armies: Battle and Conquest During Ancient Egypt's Late Eighteenth Dynasty. John Wiley & Sons.
After Ramesses I died, his son, Seti I became king, and designated his son Ramesses II as prince regent at about the age of fourteen.
Reign length Ramesses's date of accession to the throne is recorded as III Shemu (11th month), day 27, which most Egyptologists believe to be 31 May 1279 BC.
The Jewish historian Josephus, in his book Contra Apionem which included material from Manetho's Aegyptiaca, assigned Ramesses II ("Armesses Miamun") a reign of 66 years, 2 months.Josephus © 2011–2023 by Peter Lundström—Some Rights Reserved—V. 4.0. This is essentially confirmed by the calendar of Papyrus Gurob fragment L, where Year 67, I Akhet day 18 of Ramesses II is immediately followed by Year 1, II Akhet day 19 of Merneptah (Ramesses II's son), meaning Ramesses II died about 2 months into his 67th Regnal year.A. H. Gardiner (1948). Ramesside Administrative Documents, Oxford, pp. 30, 10, and 14.
In 1994, A. J. Peden proposed that Ramesses II died between days 3 and 13 of II Akhet on the basis of Theban graffito 854+855, equated to Merneptah's Year 1 II Akhet day 2.A. J. Peden, A Note on the Accession Date of Merenptah, p. 69. The workman's village of Deir el-Medina preserves a fragment of a mid-20th dynasty necropolis journal (P. Turin prov. nr. 8538 recto I, 5; unpublished) which records that the date II Akhet day 6 was a Free feast day for the "Sailing of UsimaRe-Setepenre." (for Ramesses II).R. J. Demarée, Announcement of the Passing of Ramesses II, JEOL 46 (2016), p. 125. As the Egyptologist Robert J. Demarée notes in a 2016 paper: The feast called ẖnw – 'Sailing' – was clearly observed in Thebes or at Deir el-Medina during the Ramesside Period in remembrance of the passing of deified royals. The 'Sailing' of Ahmose-Nefertari was celebrated on II Shemu 15; the 'Sailing' of Seti I on III Shemu 24; and the 'Sailing' of Ramesses II on II Akhet 6.
The date of Ramesses II's recorded death on II Akhet (2nd month) day 6 falls perfectly within Peden's estimated timeline for the king's death in the interval between II Akhet day 3 and II Akhet day 13. This means that Ramesses II died on 13 August 1213 BC (Year 67, II Akhet day 6), after reigning 66 years and 74 days. This also falls perfectly within the calculations of Jürgen von Beckerath, who placed Ramesses' death on either late July or early August 1213 BC.
Military campaigns Early in his life, Ramesses II embarked on numerous campaigns to restore possession of previously held territories lost to the Nubians and Hittites and to secure Egypt's borders. He was also responsible for suppressing some Nubian revolts and carrying out a campaign in Libya. Though the Battle of Kadesh often dominates the scholarly view of Ramesses II's military prowess and power, he nevertheless enjoyed more than a few outright victories over Egypt's enemies. During his reign, the Egyptian army is estimated to have totaled some 100,000 men: a formidable force that he used to strengthen Egyptian influence.
Battle against Sherden pirates In his second year, Ramesses II decisively defeated the Sherden sea pirates who were wreaking havoc along Egypt's Mediterranean coast by attacking cargo-laden vessels travelling the sea routes to Egypt. The Sherden people probably came from the coast of Ionia, from southwest Anatolia or perhaps, also from the island of Sardinia.: "Already in the 1840s Egyptologists had debated the identity of the "northerners, coming from all lands," who assisted the Libyan King Meryre in his attack upon Merneptah. Some scholars believed that Meryre's auxiliaries were merely his neighbors on the Libyan coast, while others identified them as Indo-Europeans from north of the Caucasus. It was one of Maspero's most illustrious predecessors, Emmanuel de Rougé, who proposed that the names reflected the lands of the northern Mediterranean: the Lukka, Ekwesh, Tursha, Shekelesh, and Shardana were men from Lydia, Achaea, Tyrsenia (western Italy), Sicily, and Sardinia." De Rougé and others regarded Meryre's auxiliaries—these "peoples de la mer Méditerranée"—as mercenary bands, since the Sardinians, at least, were known to have served as mercenaries already in the early years of Ramesses the Great. Thus the only "migration" that the Karnak Inscription seemed to suggest was an attempted encroachment by Libyans upon neighboring territory." Ramesses posted troops and ships at strategic points along the coast and patiently lured the pirates to attack their perceived prey before ambushing them in a sea battle and capturing them all in a single action. A stele from Tanis speaks of them coming "in their war-ships from the midst of the sea, and none were able to stand before them". There probably was a naval battle somewhere near the mouth of the Nile, as shortly afterward, many Sherden are seen among the pharaoh's body-guard where they are conspicuous by their horned helmets with a ball projecting from the middle, their round shields, and the great Naue II swords with which they are depicted in inscriptions of the Battle of Kadesh. In that sea battle, together with the Sherden, the pharaoh also defeated the Lukka (L'kkw, possibly the people later known as the Lycians), and the Šqrsšw (Shekelesh) peoples.
Syrian campaigns First Syrian campaign
The immediate antecedents to the Battle of Kadesh were the early campaigns of Ramesses II into Canaan. His first campaign seems to have taken place in the fourth year of his reign and was commemorated by the erection of what became the first of the Commemorative stelae of Nahr el-Kalb near what is now Beirut. The inscription is almost totally illegible due to weathering.
In the fourth year of his reign, he captured the Hittite vassal state of the Amurru during his campaign in Syria.
Second Syrian campaign
The Battle of Kadesh in his fifth regnal year was the climactic engagement in a campaign that Ramesses fought in Syria, against the resurgent Hittite forces of Muwatalli II. The pharaoh wanted a victory at Kadesh both to expand Egypt's frontiers into Syria, and to emulate his father Seti I's triumphal entry into the city just a decade or so earlier.
He also constructed his new capital, Pi-Ramesses. There he built factories to manufacture weapons, chariots, and shields, supposedly producing some 1,000 weapons in a week, about 250 chariots in two weeks, and 1,000 shields in a week and a half. After these preparations, Ramesses moved to attack territory in the Levant, which belonged to a more substantial enemy than any he had ever faced in war: the Hittite Empire.
After advancing through Canaan for exactly a month, according to the Egyptian sources, Ramesses arrived at Kadesh on 1 May 1274 BC.Obsomer 2012: 134; the date is Gregorian, equivalent to the Julian 12 May. Here, Ramesses' troops were caught in a Hittite ambush and were initially outnumbered by the enemy, whose chariotry smashed through the second division of Ramesses' forces and attacked his camp. Receiving reinforcements from other Egyptian divisions arriving on the battlefield, the Egyptians counterattacked and routed the Hittites, whose survivors abandoned their chariots and swam the Orontes River to reach the safe city walls.Detailed analysis of the Egyptian sources in Obsomer 2012: 127–171; see also Bryce 2005: 234–239. Although left in possession of the battlefield, Ramesses, logistically unable to sustain a long siege, returned to Egypt.The Battle of Kadesh in the context of Hittite history. .100 Battles, Decisive Battles that Shaped the World, Dougherty, Martin, J., Parragon, pp. 10–11. While Ramesses claimed a great victory, and this was technically true in terms of the actual battle, it is generally considered that the Hittites were the ultimate victors as far as the overall campaign was concerned, since the Egyptians retreated after the battle, and Hittite forces invaded and briefly occupied the Egyptian possessions in the region of Damascus.Bryce 2005. pp. 238–239.
Third Syrian campaign