Who was Ramses II?

Ramses II or Ramesses the Great (period of reign 1279- 1213BCE) was the third Pharaoh of the 19th dynasty Ancient Egypt (1292- 1186BCE).

This son of "Mut Tuya" is the most celebrated, and is regarded as the greatest and most powerful Pharaoh of the new kingdom because of the several military campaigns he embarked on to restore Egypt's lands and the many contributions he made to building which are seen in the colossal works (cities, temples and monuments) that are still found today.

Ramses II whose birth name is Ramesu Mary-Imana, also known to the Egyptians as "Userma’atre’setepenre" which means 'Keeper of Harmony and Balance, Strong in Right, Elect of Ra’ was born in 1303BC to the great royal wife "Mut Tuya" and Pharaoh Seti I.

His father Seti I who loved the militia raised him to follow in his footsteps, so that by the age of 10, Ramses II was already captain of the army. At the age of 22, Ramesses was already leading his own campaigns in Nubia and was named co-ruler with his father. He only became Pharaoh after his father's death in 1290BC and his reign of 66years was the second longest reign in Egyptian history.

Restoration Of Egyptian Power

Before the reign of Ramses II, the Egyptians had an uneasy relationship with the kingdom of the Hittites (in modern-day Asia Minor) who had grown in power to dominate the region, making Egypt lose important trading centers. But when Ramses II assumed the throne he led military campaigns that restored the borders of Egypt and reclaimed the lost trade routes.

In the second year of his reign, he defeated the Sea Peoples who were the ally of the Hitites off the coast of the Nile Delta. He also led a successful military campaign into Canaan which had been a Hittite vassal state since the reign of the Hittite king Suppiluliuma I. Ramses also entered Asia and submitted the territories to the south of the Hitite kingdom (modern day Turkey) under his control. These military outbursts and campaigns infuriated the Hitite king (Muwatalli), who raised an army to march on Egypt. This clash led to the "Battle of Kadesh" of 1274BC in which the world first Peace treaty was signed after.

The Battle of Kadesh

Ramses II when informed by his spies of the Hittite movements to take Egypt, raised  a colossal army of 20,000 men to counter the measures of the Hitite army and this was divided into four divisions. The divisions were named after the gods: Amun, Ra, Ptah, and Set. Each division was headed by a Commander-in-Chief but Ramesses led the Amun division with the others following behind.

After the Egyptian army had marched for two months, they finally arrived in Kadesh which is found in the south of present day Syria.

However, with the use of a well thought out strategy, the Hittites successfully attacked the Amun division(who were the first of the Egyptian army division to arrive) inflicting a significant setback on the infantry. So Ramses II at the brink of being outnumbered by the Hitites, in despair invoked their protector God(Amun) on the battlefield for help through a prayer which is still said today.