|
|
  Ancient Egypt / New Kingdom / 19th Dynasty /
Ramses 2
Other spellings: Rameses, Ramesses
|
The actual Ramses 2, the real mummy. It is on display in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
(Llarge image also shows frontal.)
Two Ramses 2's, to the right of the entrance to his temple at Abu Simbel.
|
(Ca. 1300-1213 BCE) King of Ancient Egypt 1279-1213 BCE, 66 years, the 3rd ruler of the 19th Dynasty.
Ramses 2 greatest achievements were extending the territory south into Nubia, strengthening his position against the Libyans and conquering western Asia Minor, which two centuries earlier had been under Egyptian control.
In the Levant, his greatest opponents were the Hittites.
Ramses 2 is remembered for some of the most exquisite monuments in Egypt. Some had already been erected, but he usurped them, like the temple at Abu Simbel and the Ramesseum at Thebes. And he completed the temple at Abydos, that was started by his father, Seti 1.
His favourite wife was Nefertari, who died young, and whom he remembered with lavish monuments. Between his wives, he had more than 100 children
Biography
Ca. 1300 BCE: Born as son of King Seti 1 and Queen Tuya.
1279: Ramses 2 becomes king of Egypt.
1276-1275: Ramses 2 carries out the first military campaign against the Hittites, but he loses at Kadesh in Syria. The loss of prestige, results in revolts in Egypt.
1270: After suppressing the unrest in Egypt, Ramses 2 resumes the campaign against the Hittites.
1269: Peace treaty with the Hittites, and Ramses marries the daughter of the Hittite king.
1213: Ramses 2 dies, and is succeeded by his 13th oldest son, Merneptah.
|
