Ramses II: The Pharaoh Who Expanded The Kingdom Of Egypt And Built The Biggest Colossal Temples
February 10, 2021 615
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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.