Ramesses the Great
BackgroundRamesses the Second, also known as Ramesses the Great, was born within the 19th Dynasty in 1303 and was one of the most significant pharaohs of Egypt. His father Seti I, governed the empire for around eleven to fifteen years until Ramesses came to power in 1279 at the age of twenty-five. Reigning for sixty-seven years Ramesses became recognised for the vast amount of colossal structures built and his cartouche, inscribed over a majority of the buildings and temples throughout Egypt.
Though Ramesses is known for his contribution to constructions within Egypt, there is a detailed amount of evidence to support his role within the military and religious administration of the empire. His most significant achievements including, The Battle of Kadesh in year five of his reign and the political alliances between the Hittites and Egypt in year twenty-one of his reign. During Ramesses lifetime it is believed he had eight royal wives, most well-known being his first chief wife Nefertari whom Ramesses later built a lavishly decorated tomb for. Historians believe that Ramesses had around forty to sixty offspring, many of whom Ramesses outlived within his unusually long reign. Merenptah, Ramesses thirteenth heir, came to power at the age of sixty with the death of Ramesses II in 1213 at the age of ninety-one. |