Ramesses II: The Great Pharaoh Timeline

Ramesses II: The Great Pharaoh 50

1303 BC – 1213 BC Ramesses II (1303–1213 BC) -- the great pharaoh Ramesses II, born c.1303 BC and ruling from 1279-1213 BC, is the most celebrated pharaoh in Egyptian history -- the ruler who leaves more monuments, more statues, more inscriptions, more children and a longer reign than almost any other. He is the pharaoh who fights the Battle of Kadesh (the largest chariot battle in history), signs the world's first recorded peace treaty, builds Abu Simbel, completes the hypostyle hall at Karnak, founds the new capital Pi-Ramesses, and lives to approximately 90 with his 66-year reign the second-longest in Egyptian history. His mummy, found in the Deir el-Bahari cache in 1881, shows a man of fine aquiline features, red hair and remarkable physical preservation. He is one of the candidates for the pharaoh of the biblical Exodus. He fathers over 100 children. He is so omnipresent in Egyptian monuments that later archaeologists joke he simply carved his name on everything he encountered.
1303 BC – 1279 BC Ramesses before the throne -- the crown prince Ramesses II is the son of Seti I and Queen Tuya, born c.1303 BC. He is named crown prince at approximately 10 years old and begins his co-regency with his father from approximately age 15, accompanying Seti I on military campaigns to Libya and Nubia and learning the arts of war and kingship firsthand. In his father's Nubian and Syrian campaigns, young Ramesses commands his own division -- extraordinary responsibility for a teenager, reflecting both his training and his father's confidence. Seti I dies c.1279 BC after a reign of approximately 11 years; Ramesses succeeds at approximately 24, already experienced in warfare and administration. He is not the first but the second son of Seti I -- his older brother Ramesses died before becoming pharaoh. The future Ramesses the Great begins his reign with every advantage: a prosperous kingdom, a strong army and an experienced administration inherited from his exceptional father.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Abu Simbel relocation -- saving the temples The relocation of Abu Simbel (1964-1968), one of the greatest engineering achievements of the 20th century, saves Ramesses II's finest monument from the rising waters of Lake Nasser created by the Aswan High Dam. The operation, funded by a UNESCO international campaign (55 nations contributing), cuts both temples into approximately 1,050 blocks weighing up to 20 tonnes each, moves them 65 metres higher and 200 metres further back from the Nile, and reassembles them inside artificial concrete domes designed to replicate the natural rock faces. The astronomical alignment (the sun illuminating the inner sanctuary twice a year) is maintained to within one day of the original -- the only slight discrepancy being caused by the impossibility of replacing the temple at its exact original orientation. The Abu Simbel rescue operation is the model for all subsequent archaeological salvage projects and the direct cause of the World Heritage Convention (1972), which formally recognises monuments of universal value as the shared heritage of humanity.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Abydos temple -- honouring the ancestors The Temple of Seti I at Abydos, completed by Ramesses II, is the finest and most beautifully preserved temple of the New Kingdom -- its painted reliefs (in the sunken relief style of the finest Nineteenth Dynasty workmanship) are cited by most Egyptologists as the finest wall paintings in all of Egypt. The temple is L-shaped (unique in Egyptian temple design) with seven parallel sanctuaries (for the seven gods: Amun, Ra-Horakhty, Ptah, Ptah-Sokar-Osiris, Osiris, Isis and Seti I himself). Its most important feature from a historical perspective is the Abydos King List -- a wall in the temple's Hall of Ancestors showing Seti I and the young Ramesses II making offerings to 76 previous kings of Egypt (from Narmer to Seti I), omitting rulers considered illegitimate (Hatshepsut, Akhenaten and the Amarna pharaohs, the Hyksos). The King List is one of the most important historical documents in Egyptology.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Colossi and cult -- the statuary programme Ramesses II erects more colossal statues of himself than any other pharaoh -- a systematic programme of self-representation that places his image at the entrance to every major temple in Egypt and Nubia. The statistics: at least 200 known colossal statues (defined as over 5 metres high), of which the most famous are the four at Abu Simbel (20 metres), the three at the Ramesseum (the "Young Memnon" in the British Museum was originally approximately 17 metres), the pair at Luxor (14 metres, both still standing), and numerous others at Karnak, Memphis, Pi-Ramesses and the Nubian temples. The colossi serve both a religious function (the pharaoh's eternal presence at the temple entrance to receive worship) and a political function (demonstrating royal power to any visitor approaching the temple). The proliferation of Ramessid colossi means that Egypt's visual landscape was more thoroughly Ramesside than anything before or after.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Deir el-Medina under Ramesses II -- the artists at work The workers' village at Deir el-Medina reaches its peak under Ramesses II -- a prosperous community of approximately 60-120 skilled craftsmen and their families who build and decorate the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Their own tombs (on the hillside above the village) are among the most beautiful private tombs in Egypt -- small but exquisitely painted, their owners having the unique advantage of being professional artists decorating their own burial chambers. The ostraca (pottery fragments and limestone flakes used as notepaper) from Deir el-Medina under Ramesses II are the richest source for ordinary Egyptian life: workers' wages, disputes, love letters, medical records, trial records, and -- most charmingly -- "I was ill today" and "absent because of my wife's eye complaint" absences recorded in the weekly attendance register.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Egyptian trade under Ramesses II -- the Bronze Age economy The reign of Ramesses II coincides with the Late Bronze Age trading system -- the most internationally integrated economy the ancient world has seen before the Hellenistic period. Egyptian gold, grain and linen flow to Cyprus, Canaan, the Aegean, Anatolia and Mesopotamia in exchange for copper (from Cyprus), tin (from Afghanistan via Mesopotamia), silver (from Anatolia and the Aegean), lapis lazuli (from Afghanistan), wine and oil (from Canaan and the Aegean). The Uluburun shipwreck (discovered off Turkey in 1982), dated to c.1300 BC, is the most vivid evidence of this trading system: a ship carrying copper ingots from Cyprus, tin ingots from Afghanistan, ebony and ivory from Africa, amber from the Baltic, glass from Mesopotamia, Egyptian gold jewellery and Canaanite pottery -- a trading microcosm of the Bronze Age world. The collapse of this trading system c.1200 BC contributes to the Bronze Age catastrophe.
1279 BC – 1274 BC First years -- establishing power The first five years of Ramesses II's reign (1279-1274 BC) are devoted to consolidating power, building monuments and preparing for the major military confrontation with the Hittites that he knows is coming. He conducts campaigns in Nubia (Year 1), in the Levant (Years 1-4), suppresses a Sherden (Sea Peoples) pirate raid on the Egyptian coast (Year 2) and begins his massive building programme. His Year 1 stele at Wadi Halfa records a Nubian campaign; his Year 2 stele at Beit el-Wali (Nubia) shows the Sherden pirates captured and incorporated into his personal bodyguard -- an imaginative reuse of former enemies. He also begins the foundation of Pi-Ramesses, his new Delta capital, in these early years. By Year 5 he is confident enough to lead the largest Egyptian army ever assembled northward to confront the Hittite king Muwatalli II at Kadesh.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Horses and chariots -- the weapon of empire The horse-drawn war chariot, introduced to Egypt by the Hyksos c.1650 BC, is the decisive military technology of the New Kingdom -- the weapon that makes Egyptian imperial expansion possible. The Ramesside chariot (two-man crew: driver and archer) is a light, highly manoeuvrable vehicle designed for speed and archery from a moving platform. Egyptian chariots are lighter than their Hittite counterparts (which carry three men) -- trading carrying capacity for speed and manoeuvrability. Ramesses II's father Seti I maintains stables for 460 horses at Pi-Ramesses; Ramesses himself expands this fleet. The chariots are imported from Canaan (the Canaanite vehicle is the basis for the Egyptian design) or built in Egyptian workshops. The chariot corps is the elite military force of the New Kingdom -- charioteers are wealthy men who can afford their own vehicle and training.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Isetnofret -- the second wife Queen Isetnofret (c.1295-1258 BC), Ramesses II's second principal wife, is Nefertari's counterpart -- less celebrated in monuments (she has no Abu Simbel temple) but arguably more politically significant as the mother of Merneptah, Ramesses's eventual successor. She bears Ramesses at least four children: Ramesses B (the crown prince who predeceases his father), Khaemwaset (the prince-archaeologist and High Priest of Ptah), Merneptah (13th son but eventual successor) and a daughter Bintanath (who becomes one of her father's principal wives after her mother's death). Isetnofret appears in the Abu Simbel dedication text and in Nubian temple reliefs but lacks the intensive monument programme that makes Nefertari so visible. Her tomb has not been definitively identified.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Kadesh reliefs -- propaganda in stone The Battle of Kadesh is depicted at five temple sites (Karnak, Luxor, Abydos, the Ramesseum, Abu Simbel) -- the most widely replicated battle scene in Egyptian history. Each version shows the same essential composition: the camp of Ramesses II protected by a rectangle of shields; the chariot battle outside the camp; Ramesses charging alone into the massed Hittite chariots; the Hittite king in his chariot watching from the far bank of the Orontes (the only Egyptian representation of a named foreign king watching the battle rather than fleeing). The reliefs are accompanied by two texts: the "Poem of Pentaur" (the narrative of the battle in poetic form) and the "Bulletin" (a day-by-day account in prose form). Together they constitute the most complete record of any ancient battle until the Roman period. That Kadesh was strategically inconclusive makes the propaganda campaign surrounding it all the more impressive.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Karnak -- Ramesses' hypostyle hall The Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak, begun by Seti I and completed by Ramesses II, is the largest columned hall ever built -- a forest of 134 columns covering 5,000 square metres, the 12 central columns 23 metres high and 10 metres in circumference. The hall's walls and columns are covered in reliefs: Seti I's reliefs (on the northern half) are in the finer, more delicate sunken relief style; Ramesses II's reliefs (on the southern half) are in the bolder, shallower raised relief style -- the difference reflecting the two pharaohs' different approaches to monumental art. The north external wall shows Seti I's battles; the south external wall shows Ramesses II's Battle of Kadesh in its most complete rendering. The hypostyle hall was once brightly painted -- traces of the original paint survive on sheltered surfaces. Standing in the hall, surrounded by columns taller than a 7-storey building, is one of the most overwhelming architectural experiences in the world.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Khaemwaset -- the first archaeologist Prince Khaemwaset (c.1281-1225 BC), Ramesses II's fourth son by Queen Isetnofret, is one of the most remarkable individuals of the ancient world -- the High Priest of Ptah at Memphis who conducts systematic restorations of Old and Middle Kingdom monuments and is revered in later periods as a great magician and sage. He visits Old Kingdom pyramid complexes at Giza, Abusir and Saqqara, identifies the names of the builders from ancient inscriptions, restores the damaged outer casings and adds his own inscription recording the restoration -- the world's first archaeological survey. His inscription on the pyramid of Unas at Saqqara reads: "His Majesty commanded the High Priest... Khaemwaset to inscribe [the name of] the King... Unas on this pyramid, because the name of this pyramid was not found upon its face." He effectively invents the practice of restoring and commemorating ancient monuments -- the ancestor of every archaeologist.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Luxor Temple -- Ramesses adds his pylon Luxor Temple, begun by Amenhotep III and completed by Tutankhamun and Horemheb, receives its most dramatic addition from Ramesses II: a massive first pylon (65 metres wide, 24 metres high), two seated colossi (the northern pair still stand -- the tallest surviving seated statues in Egypt) and two obelisks (one was given to France in 1836 and now stands in the Place de la Concorde in Paris; the other remains). The pylon and its statuary are decorated with scenes of the Battle of Kadesh. Ramesses also adds a large forecourt to the temple, displacing the original axis to align with his new pylon -- a significant architectural disruption that required considerable engineering skill. The result is the grandest temple entrance in Egypt -- a statement of royal power visible from the Nile and from the road arriving from Karnak.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Nefertari -- the beloved wife Nefertari (c.1295-1255 BC), Ramesses II's chief wife and "Great Royal Wife," is the most celebrated queen of the Ramesside period -- the woman for whom Ramesses builds the Small Temple at Abu Simbel (inscribed "For whose sake the sun does shine"), whose tomb in the Valley of the Queens (QV66) contains the finest paintings in Egypt, and who is depicted alongside her husband in more monuments than any other Egyptian queen. Nefertari appears in the reliefs at Abu Simbel in equal size to the pharaoh -- a position normally reserved for deities -- and is given the epithet "Beautiful Companion" (Nefertari Meryenmut, "Beautiful Companion, Beloved of Mut"). She bears Ramesses at least six children (two daughters and four sons). She dies c.1255 BC, approximately 25 years before Ramesses himself. Her tomb, restored at enormous cost in the 1990s, is the most complete and beautiful painted tomb in Egypt.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Ozymandias -- Shelley's pharaoh Percy Bysshe Shelley's sonnet "Ozymandias" (1818) is one of the most famous poems in English literature -- inspired by the fallen colossus of Ramesses II at the Ramesseum, described to Shelley by the antiquarian William Hamilton. The sonnet's conceit -- the shattered statue of the "king of kings" with its inscription "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" now surrounded by the "lone and level sands" -- is one of the most powerful meditations on the vanity of human ambition ever written. The name "Ozymandias" is a Greek rendering of Ramesses's throne name (User-Maat-Ra) -- the name by which he was known to Greek visitors. The irony is double: Shelley chose Ramesses to represent the futility of monuments precisely because his monument was so shattered -- but Ramesses himself was not shattered. He left more standing monuments than any other pharaoh. The poem says more about the limits of Shelley's knowledge than about the limits of Ramesses's achievement.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Pi-Ramesses -- the new capital Pi-Ramesses (Per-Ramesses Aa-nakhtu, "The House of Ramesses, Great of Victory"), Ramesses II's new capital city in the eastern Nile Delta (near modern Qantir, built on or near the site of the Hyksos capital Avaris), is one of the largest cities of the ancient world -- covering approximately 10 square kilometres with a population of approximately 300,000. The city contains four great temples (dedicated to Amun, Ra-Horakhty, Ptah and Seth/Baal), a massive royal palace decorated with faience tiles, enormous stables for 460 horses and 18 training tracks, and extensive workshops producing weapons, chariots and military equipment. The Exodus narrative's reference to Israelite slaves building the cities "Pithom and Raamses" (Exodus 1:11) is one of the most specific geographical details in the Bible and connects the Exodus tradition firmly to the Ramesside period. Pi-Ramesses is abandoned c.1070 BC as the Pelusiac arm of the Nile silts up.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Ramesses II's legacy -- the pharaoh of pharaohs Ramesses II's legacy in Egypt is so pervasive that later Egyptians routinely refer to him as "the Great Ancestor" -- the standard against which all subsequent pharaohs measure themselves. Nine subsequent pharaohs take the name Ramesses in his honour (Ramesses III through XI). The Arab name for the ruins of Pi-Ramesses ("Qantir") preserves the memory of his capital in the landscape. His name (in the Greek form "Ozymandias" or "Sesostris") enters classical mythology as the archetypal all-powerful eastern king. In modern culture, he is the most frequently depicted ancient Egyptian ruler in films, novels and popular history. The scholarly rehabilitation of his reputation (from "tyrant" in Herodotus to "the greatest builder in Egyptian history" in modern Egyptology) mirrors the broader rehabilitation of ancient Egypt from a civilisation of mysterious obscurity to one of the best-documented in the ancient world.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Ramesses and Hatti -- an empire in balance The Egyptian-Hittite relationship under Ramesses II after the peace treaty (1259 BC) is one of the most sophisticated international relationships of the ancient world -- two superpowers managing their mutual interests through diplomacy, correspondence and marriage alliance. The Hattusa archive contains 14 letters between Ramesses II and Hattusili III (in Akkadian, the diplomatic language of the Bronze Age) -- covering: treaty implementation; the extradition of political refugees; requests for physicians (Ramesses sends an Egyptians doctor to Hatti); the marriage negotiations (including Hattusili's wife Puduhepa negotiating directly with Ramesses about the dowry for her daughter); and expressions of friendship ("you are my brother and I am your brother -- we are one"). The correspondence reveals two sophisticated rulers managing a complex bilateral relationship with remarkable modernity.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Ramesses and art -- the gigantic style The art of Ramesses II's reign is characterised by a shift toward gigantism and repetition -- enormous colossal statues (the four at Abu Simbel; the three at the Ramesseum, including the 1,000-tonne fallen "Young Memnon" now in the British Museum; the pair at Luxor; the enormous rock-cut statues at Wadi es-Sebua), repeated at such scale and frequency that the individual pieces become elements of a systematic visual programme rather than unique artistic statements. The style reflects the political programme: overwhelming the viewer with royal presence rather than inviting aesthetic contemplation. Yet within this gigantic framework, the finest Ramesside work -- the reliefs at Abu Simbel's inner sanctuary, the paintings of Nefertari's tomb, the delicate work in the Abydos temple -- achieves a refinement and beauty equal to any period. The young Ramesside artists are not less skilled than their Old Kingdom predecessors; they are working within a more politically constrained aesthetic.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Ramesses and the Exodus question Ramesses II is the pharaoh most frequently identified with the biblical Exodus -- the pharaoh who enslaves the Israelites, refuses to let them go despite 10 plagues, and pursues them to the Red Sea. The identification rests on several pieces of evidence: the Exodus text mentions a city called "Raamses" or "Pi-Ramesses" (Exodus 1:11) built by Israelite slaves -- and Pi-Ramesses is definitely a Ramesside creation; the Merneptah Stele (c.1208 BC) mentions Israel as a people in Canaan, implying they had already left Egypt by Ramesses II's son's reign; and the general historicity of a Semitic-speaking people serving in some capacity in the eastern Delta is confirmed by archaeological evidence. Against the identification: no Egyptian source mentions the Exodus or the plagues; the Exodus narrative contains chronological and geographical difficulties that make a literal reading problematic. Most modern scholars regard the Exodus as a later literary compilation of various historical memories rather than a single historical event.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Ramesses and the priesthood of Amun One of the consistent tensions of Ramesses II's reign is the relationship between the pharaoh and the increasingly powerful priesthood of Amun at Karnak. The priests of Amun control vast estates, enormous grain reserves and a priestly workforce of thousands -- making them an economic power rivalling the pharaoh himself. Ramesses responds to this power not with confrontation (as Akhenaten had) but with a combination of lavish endowments (enormous quantities of land, gold and goods given to Karnak and other temples) and administrative control (placing loyal officials in key priestly positions). His massive building programme at Karnak -- particularly the Great Hypostyle Hall -- simultaneously demonstrates his piety and his desire to associate his name permanently with Amun's temple. The tension between pharaonic and priestly power that Ramesses manages through diplomacy eventually destroys the New Kingdom under his successors.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Ramesses as god -- self-deification Ramesses II is the most extreme practitioner of pharaonic self-deification in Egyptian history -- the pharaoh who is worshipped as a living god not merely in theory but in dedicated cult centres with their own temples and priesthoods. The most striking example: at Abu Simbel, the inner sanctuary contains four seated statues of gods -- Ra-Horakhty, Amun-Ra, Ptah and Ramesses II himself, shown as equal to the three great gods and receiving the sun's rays alongside them. His temple at Abu Simbel is dedicated partly to Ramesses II's own divine image ("Ramesses II Beloved of Amun"). His prenomen (User-Maat-Ra Setep-en-Ra) is itself treated as a divine entity, called the "Strong Bull who sees Ma'at, Chosen of Ra." In Nubia, where he builds numerous temples specifically in his own honour, the local population worships him as the divine manifestation of Ra on earth.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Ramesses' 100 children -- the royal family Ramesses II fathers over 100 children -- 79 sons and at least 60 daughters are named in his monuments, from numerous wives and concubines. His principal wives: Nefertari (chief wife, first 25 years); Isetnofret (who bears Ramesses III's predecessor Merenptah); the Hittite princess Maathorneferure (married c.1245 BC, given the Egyptian name "Great of Charms, Beholder of Horus"); and a second Hittite princess (c.1237 BC). His eldest son Amunherkhepeshef accompanies him on military campaigns. Many of his sons who predecease him are buried in the remarkable KV5 (Valley of the Kings Tomb 5), the largest tomb ever found in the Valley -- with over 120 chambers, still only partially excavated. One of his most celebrated sons is Khaemwaset (4th son) -- a prince of enormous learning who is the first archaeologist in history, restoring and relabelling Old Kingdom monuments.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Ramesses' building programme -- stone everywhere Ramesses II's building programme is the most extensive in Egyptian history -- a 66-year campaign of construction, enlargement and usurpation that transforms the physical landscape of Egypt. His buildings: Abu Simbel (two rock-cut temples in Nubia); the Ramesseum (his mortuary temple at Thebes); Pi-Ramesses (his Delta capital, containing some of the largest buildings in Egypt); the completion of the Abydos temple (begun by Seti I); the Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak (co-built with Seti I -- 134 columns); the first pylon and forecourt at Luxor; multiple temples throughout Nubia (Beit el-Wali, Derr, Gerf Hussein, Wadi es-Sebua, Aksha, Amara West); additions at Memphis; and dozens of smaller projects. He also usurps hundreds of earlier monuments -- carving his name over his predecessors' names with such enthusiasm that 19th-century scholars initially attributed far more monuments to him than he actually built.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Ramesses' mummy -- the most examined pharaoh The mummy of Ramesses II, found in the Deir el-Bahari cache in 1881 and now in the Cairo Museum, is the most extensively examined pharaoh's mummy in history. Physical evidence: he was approximately 1.75 metres tall (tall for an ancient Egyptian, who averaged 1.65m); had fine aquiline features with a narrow high-bridged nose; reddish-brown hair (red hair is confirmed by radioimmunoassay -- he was not merely a bleached brunette); was approximately 90 when he died; suffered from severe arthritis (he could barely walk in his last years), severe dental disease (dental abscesses throughout his jaw), arteriosclerosis and possibly gout. In 1974 the mummy was flown to Paris for conservation -- given a passport listing his occupation as "King (deceased)" -- the only ancient pharaoh to have had a modern passport. Radioimmunoassay of hair follicles shows traces of tobacco and cocaine -- probably contamination from the tobacco wrapping that 19th-century Egyptians used.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Seth at Pi-Ramesses -- the Delta god The eastern Nile Delta, where Ramesses II builds his capital Pi-Ramesses, is the traditional territory of Seth -- the god of storms, chaos and foreigners. The Ramesside dynasty's origins are in this region (the family comes from the Delta), and they maintain a particularly strong devotion to Seth alongside the orthodox Amun worship expected of pharaohs. Seti I (Ramesses's father) literally bears Seth's name. Ramesses II dedicates one of the four great temples of Pi-Ramesses to Seth alongside Amun, Ra-Horakhty and Ptah. This Seth devotion in the Ramesside court is one of the most distinctive religious characteristics of the Nineteenth Dynasty -- a deliberate assertion of the Delta tradition alongside the Theban orthodoxy. Seth's association with foreign lands and foreigners also reflects the cosmopolitan, internationally engaged character of the Ramesside court.
1279 BC – 1213 BC The 19th Dynasty court -- life around Ramesses The court of Ramesses II is one of the most extensively documented in the ancient world -- reconstructed from Deir el-Medina ostraca, administrative papyri, noble tomb biographies and temple inscriptions. Key figures: Paser (vizier of Upper Egypt for approximately 25 years, c.1279-1255 BC -- one of the most powerful and well-documented officials in Egyptian history); Tjaty Kha'emwaset (vizier of Lower Egypt); Setau (Viceroy of Kush, responsible for the Nubian building programme); and Ramesses's many sons and daughters who serve in various administrative and priestly roles. The court's ethnic diversity reflects Egypt's imperial character: Libyan soldiers, Syrian merchants, Nubian administrators and Hittite diplomats all appear in the documentary record. The vizier Paser's tomb at Thebes (TT106) provides the most complete picture of a high official's life in the Ramesside period.
1279 BC – 1213 BC The Amun divine marriage -- theological power The theological concept of the divine marriage between Amun and the queen, producing the pharaoh as Amun's literal son, is developed into its most elaborate form under Ramesses II. According to New Kingdom royal theology (first elaborated in Hatshepsut's Deir el-Bahari temple), the god Amun takes the form of the ruling pharaoh, visits the queen's bedroom, and conceives the future pharaoh -- making each king literally the son of the god rather than merely metaphorically divine. Ramesses II's birth narrative is depicted at the Ramesseum and Abu Simbel: Amun visits his mother Tuya in the guise of Seti I; the ram-headed Khnum fashions the royal ka and the royal body on his potter's wheel; Hathor and Bes attend the birth. The narrative is not merely theological abstraction but a claim to legitimacy -- proof that Ramesses is literally the son of the supreme god.
1279 BC – 1213 BC The Hittite marriage -- diplomatic union Ramesses II's marriage to the eldest daughter of the Hittite king Hattusili III (c.1245 BC, approximately 14 years after the peace treaty) is one of the most elaborately documented diplomatic events of the ancient world. Hattusili sends his daughter and an enormous dowry (gold, silver, horses, cattle and soldiers) across from Anatolia to Egypt in winter -- a journey recorded in both Egyptian and Hittite sources, including Ramesses's correspondence complaining about the weather in January ("Is the snow not... sent by your father Tessub himself?"). The princess arrives in Egypt, is given an Egyptian name (Maathorneferure, "She Who Sees the Beauty of Ra") and becomes Ramesses's third principal wife. Ramesses celebrates the event at Abu Simbel with a relief showing the Hittite king presenting his daughter -- an unprecedented monument to a diplomatic achievement rather than a military victory.
1279 BC – 1213 BC The Merenptah Stele -- Israel mentioned The Merenptah Stele (also called the "Israel Stele"), erected by Ramesses II's son and successor Merneptah c.1208 BC to commemorate his military campaigns in Canaan and Libya, contains the only known mention of "Israel" in ancient Egyptian writing. The relevant line reads: "Canaan has been plundered into every sort of woe; Ashkelon has been overcome; Gezer has been seized; Yanoam was made non-existent; Israel is laid waste and his seed is not." The determinative used for "Israel" is the one for a foreign people (as opposed to a foreign land) -- suggesting that at this date, Israel is a nomadic group or tribal confederation rather than a settled kingdom. This inscription establishes that a group called Israel existed in Canaan by c.1208 BC -- the earliest extrabiblical mention of Israel -- making it a crucial synchronism between Egyptian and biblical history.
1279 BC – 1213 BC The Nile campaign -- Nubia subjugated Ramesses II conducts multiple campaigns in Nubia throughout his reign -- beginning in Year 1 (when he accompanies his father Seti I's campaign) and continuing with his own campaigns in Years 1 and 8. The Nubian campaigns are recorded at the temple of Beit el-Wali (one of Ramesses's earliest Nubian temples) in reliefs showing the pharaoh charging enemy cavalry on his chariot, the capture of prisoners, and the receipt of tribute. Nubia under Ramesses II is thoroughly colonised -- the Viceroy of Kush administers the territory; Egyptian-style temples (Abu Simbel, Derr, Gerf Hussein, Wadi es-Sebua, Aksha, Amara) dot the Nubian Nile at regular intervals; Egyptian culture is imposed on the indigenous population. The gold of Nubia (contributing approximately two-thirds of Egypt's total gold supply) underpins the building programme that makes Ramesses the greatest builder in Egyptian history.
1279 BC – 1213 BC The Poem of Pentaur -- the first epic The Poem of Pentaur (or the "Qadesh Poem"), composed shortly after the Battle of Kadesh and inscribed at five temples (Karnak, Luxor, Abydos, the Ramesseum and Abu Simbel), is the longest literary text in the Egyptian language and one of the oldest epic poems in any language -- a 339-line account of Ramesses II's heroism at Kadesh that combines historical narrative with divine intervention and heroic fantasy. Ramesses, surrounded by the Hittites, cries out to Amun: "I call to you, my father Amun -- I am among a host of strangers. All foreign countries are combined against me. I am alone. There is no other with me." Amun responds: "Forward! I am with you, I your father. My hand is with you." The poem describes Ramesses charging alone into thousands of Hittite chariots, his horses strengthening, the enemy falling. It is propagandistic literature of the highest order -- but also genuinely exciting poetry.
1279 BC – 1213 BC The Ramesseum -- the mortuary temple The Ramesseum (Ramesses II's mortuary temple at Thebes, c.1270 BC), covering approximately 2 hectares and fronted by two seated colossi of the pharaoh (one of which, fallen and shattered, inspired Shelley's "Ozymandias" -- "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"), is one of the finest New Kingdom temples. Its walls contain reliefs of the Battle of Kadesh (the most detailed military narrative in Egyptian art), the Qadesh poem (one of the earliest epic poems in any language), and agricultural scenes. The storerooms (enormous mudbrick vaulted warehouses surrounding the temple) were used as a granary and as a library -- one of the largest archives of papyrus scrolls in Egypt was stored here. The Ramesseum is still impressive despite the partial collapse of its first pylon and the fallen colossus. Shelley writes "Ozymandias" after reading a description of the fallen colossus before it was excavated.
1279 BC – 1213 BC The Ramesseum storerooms -- the world's first granary complex The storerooms surrounding the Ramesseum (Ramesses II's mortuary temple) are the most extensive ancient grain storage complex in Egypt -- 22 mudbrick barrel-vaulted magazines, each approximately 50 metres long, capable of storing approximately 3,000 tonnes of grain. The storerooms serve both as the temple's economic infrastructure (the grain supports the mortuary priests and feeds the annual offerings) and as a regional emergency reserve. Papyri found in the Ramesseum (the "Ramesseum Papyri," a temple library discovered in 1896) include a unique collection of magical and literary texts including a calendar of lucky and unlucky days, magical spells, dramatic texts and onomastica (lists of technical terms) -- the most diverse collection of texts from a single Egyptian source outside the Deir el-Medina archives.
1279 BC – 1213 BC The Ramessid scribal school -- the literary legacy The Ramessid period (particularly under Ramesses II and III) is the golden age of Egyptian administrative and literary writing. The "Ramesside Miscellanies" -- collections of model letters, administrative texts and literary passages used in scribal schools -- survive in papyri that provide our fullest picture of Ramesside education and values. The letters describe the ideal scribe's life: well-fed, comfortable, respected, exempt from manual labour. One famous text (the "Satirical Letter of Hori") is a devastating parody of a boastful official who claims knowledge of Syria but cannot name its cities correctly. Another ("the Satire of the Trades") describes the miseries of every profession except the scribe. The Ramesside literary tradition also includes the earliest love poetry in any language -- passionate, personal, surprisingly modern in its emotional directness.
1279 BC – 1213 BC The Ramesside king list -- historical consciousness The "Abydos King List" inscribed by Seti I and young Ramesses II in the Abydos temple is the most important historical document in Egyptology -- a list of 76 legitimate pharaohs from Narmer to Seti I, presented as offering recipients in a ritual scene where Seti I and the young Ramesses make offerings to their divine predecessors. The list is selective and ideological -- it omits pharaohs considered illegitimate (Hatshepsut, the Amarna pharaohs, the Hyksos, the Seventeenth Dynasty Thebans) -- but within those constraints, it represents the Egyptians' own understanding of their continuous dynastic history. The Abydos King List, combined with the Turin King List (compiled under Ramesses II) and the Saqqara King List (from a contemporary Ramesside tomb), provides the primary framework for reconstructing Egyptian chronology. Without these three sources, the ordering of pharaohs would be almost impossible.
1279 BC – 1213 BC The Ramesside succession -- managing the dynasty The management of the royal succession across a 66-year reign is one of Ramesses II's most remarkable administrative achievements -- and its ultimate partial failure reveals the fundamental vulnerability of any system dependent on a single ruler's longevity. Ramesses names at least four crown princes who predecease him: Amunherkhepeshef (died c.1255 BC), Ramesses B (died c.1250 BC), Khaemwaset (died c.1225 BC), and Merneptah (who survives). He also has his daughters marry him (including Bintanath and Meritamen) to maintain the divine purity of the royal line -- a practice that raises questions for modern observers but is theologically defensible within the framework of divine kingship. The successful transfer of power to the elderly Merneptah in 1213 BC is a triumph of the Egyptian administrative system -- the machinery of the state continues to function regardless of who sits on the throne.
1279 BC – 1213 BC The Red Land -- Ramesses in Sinai and Canaan Ramesses II maintains an active military and administrative presence in Canaan and Sinai throughout his reign. The turquoise mines at Serabit el-Khadim in Sinai bear his name on multiple stelae; the copper mines at Timna Valley are operated under his administration. In Canaan, he rebuilds the Egyptian administrative residency at Gaza, constructs a temple at Beth Shean (modern Beit She'an, Israel) and maintains garrison towns throughout the territory. The Canaanite city-states pay tribute and provide military contingents. The Late Bronze Age Canaan that Ramesses administers is the background for the biblical narratives of the Israelite judges and the beginning of the monarchy -- a world of competing city-states, Egyptian overlordship and cultural exchange between Egypt, Canaan, Phoenicia and the Aegean that shapes the context in which Israelite religion develops.
1279 BC – 1213 BC The Seti I temple -- Ramesses finishes his father's work The Temple of Seti I at Abydos is both a monument to Ramesses II's filial piety and the finest temple of the Nineteenth Dynasty. Seti I begins the temple c.1290 BC as his mortuary complex; he dies before completing it, leaving the outer sections unfinished. Ramesses II completes the outer hypostyle hall and the entrance court, adding his own reliefs (in his bolder, less refined style) to the outer sections while Seti I's exquisite sunken reliefs cover the inner rooms. The stylistic contrast between father and son is immediately visible to any visitor: Seti I's inner halls, with their delicate modelling and rich colour, are generally considered superior to Ramesses II's outer additions. The temple also contains the "Abydos King List" -- inscribed by Seti I and young Ramesses -- listing 76 previous kings of Egypt and constituting the most important historical document in Egyptology.
1279 BC – 1213 BC The Sherden pirates -- enemies become guards One of the most dramatically efficient military operations of Ramesses II's early reign is his response to the Sherden pirates (Year 2, c.1278 BC). The Sherden (a Sea Peoples group, possibly from Sardinia or the Levantine coast) conduct raids on the Egyptian Delta coast. Rather than simply defeating them at sea, Ramesses prepares a trap: allowing them to approach the Delta coast, then springing his fleet upon them, capturing the pirates and incorporating them directly into his personal bodyguard -- the most elite military unit in Egypt. The Sherden appear in subsequent battle reliefs wearing their distinctive horned helmets with central disc, fighting for Egypt as mercenaries. They are depicted at Kadesh fighting alongside Ramesses in his moment of crisis. The transformation of pirates into royal bodyguards demonstrates Ramesses's military flexibility and his ability to use human resources creatively.
1279 BC – 1213 BC The Valley of the Queens -- Nefertari's tomb The Valley of the Queens (Ta Set Neferu), containing approximately 90 tombs of New Kingdom queens and princes, reaches its artistic peak with the tomb of Nefertari (QV66, c.1255 BC) -- considered by most Egyptologists to be the most beautiful painted tomb in Egypt. The paintings, executed in glowing red, yellow, blue and green on a smooth white plaster surface, show Nefertari in interaction with the gods of the afterlife: being guided by Thoth, greeted by Osiris, crowned by Isis, playing senet (an Egyptian board game) in the afterlife. The paintings were in deteriorating condition when the Egyptian authorities and the Getty Conservation Institute undertook a massive restoration (1986-1992) at a cost of $6 million -- the most expensive tomb restoration in history. The tomb is now open to limited numbers of visitors at significant cost per entry.
1279 BC – 1213 BC The long reign -- outliving his successors Ramesses II's 66-year reign (the second longest in Egyptian history after Pepi II's approximately 94 years) creates a unique political problem: he outlives at least 13 of his sons. The elaborate succession arrangements he makes -- naming Amunherkhepeshef, then Ramesses B, then Khaemwaset, then Merneptah as crown prince in succession -- reflect the grim reality of outliving multiple heirs. His eventual successor Merneptah (who becomes pharaoh c.1213 BC) is his 13th son and is himself approximately 60 when he succeeds. The long reign also creates artistic stagnation: the same battle scenes, the same monumental portraits, the same titulary repeated for 66 years on every available surface. By the end of Ramesses II's reign, the style has become formulaic in a way that would not have been possible with a shorter, more innovative reign.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Valley of the Kings Tomb KV5 -- the princes' tomb KV5, the tomb of the sons of Ramesses II in the Valley of the Kings, is the largest tomb ever discovered in Egypt -- with over 120 chambers (still only partially excavated as of 2026) built to accommodate the many sons who predeceased the long-reigning pharaoh. Discovered by James Burton in 1825 (who opened only the entrance), it was effectively forgotten until rediscovered by Kent Weeks in 1988. Subsequent excavations reveal an extraordinary complex: a large central hall with 16 pillars, long side corridors stretching deep into the rock, and evidence of at least a dozen royal princes buried there. The tomb's decoration (originally fine relief painting now badly damaged by ancient floods) includes scenes of the king presenting his sons to the gods. KV5 transforms our understanding of Ramesside royal burial practice and raises the possibility that further chambers remain undiscovered.
1279 BC – 1213 BC Wadi es-Sebua -- the Nubian temples Wadi es-Sebua ("Valley of Lions"), a site on the western bank of the Nile in Lower Nubia 150km south of Aswan, contains one of Ramesses II's finest Nubian temple complexes -- a rock-cut and free-standing temple dedicated to Amun-Ra and Ramesses II himself, approached by an avenue of sphinxes bearing human heads and lion bodies (giving the site its name). Like Abu Simbel and the other Nubian temples, Wadi es-Sebua was dismantled and relocated in the 1960s to save it from the rising waters of Lake Nasser. In the Christian period, the temple's inner sanctuary was converted into a church: the reliefs showing Ramesses making offerings to the gods were plastered over and replaced with paintings of saints -- and the saint painted directly over the image of Ramesses in the innermost chamber is painted in the same posture, making offerings to the Christian god in the same gesture as the pharaoh makes to Amun.
1275 BC The Battle of Kadesh -- the greatest fight The Battle of Kadesh (c.1274 BC) is the most thoroughly documented battle of the ancient world -- recorded in seven versions at five Egyptian temple sites (Abu Simbel, Luxor, Karnak, Abydos, the Ramesseum) and in the Hittite archives at Boghazkoy. Ramesses leads four divisions (Ra, Amun, Ptah and Sutekh) northward to the Orontes River in modern Syria. Deceived by false intelligence that the Hittites are far to the north, he advances with only the Amun division when the enemy strikes. Two thousand Hittite chariots ambush the Ra division, rout it, and surround Ramesses with only his personal bodyguard. The Egyptian account (the "Poem of Pentaur" and the "Bulletin") describes what follows as Ramesses' solo fight for survival, sustained by the god Amun: "I was alone. No officer was with me. No charioteer. No soldier. No shield bearer." He fights his way out, rallies the Ptah division arriving from the south, and prevents a total disaster.
1274 BC – 1259 BC After Kadesh -- claims and reality The 15 years between the Battle of Kadesh (c.1274 BC) and the Egyptian-Hittite Peace Treaty (c.1259 BC) see Ramesses conduct three further campaigns in Canaan and Syria, reasserting Egyptian hegemony over the Canaanite city-states that had been shaken by Kadesh. His Year 7 campaign takes Dapur (in Syria) -- a city he depicts himself capturing in the reliefs at the Ramesseum and Abu Simbel in a scene so similar to Kadesh that some scholars once thought it was the same battle. He also subjugates the Nubians again and campaigns against the Libyans. Throughout this period both Egypt and Hatti are under pressure from other directions -- Hatti from the Assyrians in the east, Egypt from restiveness among its Canaanite vassals. The mutual weakness that makes peace desirable is as important as the desire for stability in producing the treaty of 1259 BC.
1265 BC – 1244 BC Abu Simbel -- temples of eternity Abu Simbel (c.1265-1244 BC), cut from the sandstone cliff face of Lower Nubia 280km south of Aswan, is the most spectacular of all Egyptian monuments -- two temples carved directly from the living rock. The Great Temple is dedicated to Ramesses II himself (and to Ra-Horakhty, Ptah and Amun) -- its facade dominated by four colossal seated statues of the pharaoh, each 20 metres high. The inner sanctuary, 60 metres deep into the mountain, is illuminated by the rising sun twice a year (on 20 February and 20 October -- traditionally identified with his birthday and coronation day) -- an alignment so precise that it must have been deliberately designed. The Small Temple is dedicated to the goddess Hathor in the image of Nefertari -- one of only two temples in Egypt dedicated to a queen. Both temples were dismantled in 50-tonne blocks and relocated 65 metres higher and 200 metres back from the Nile (1964-1968) to save them from Lake Nasser.
1259 BC The Egyptian-Hittite Peace Treaty -- diplomacy invented The Egyptian-Hittite Peace Treaty of c.1259 BC (signed between Ramesses II and Hattusili III) is the world's oldest surviving international peace treaty -- preserved in hieroglyphic at Karnak and Abu Simbel and in Akkadian cuneiform at Hattusa. Its terms: mutual non-aggression ("there shall be no hostility between us"); mutual military alliance against third parties ("if another enemy comes against the lands of Ramesses... then Hattusili shall come"); extradition of political refugees from each other's territory (with a specific clause protecting returning refugees from punishment: "their crime shall not be charged against them"); and guarantee of the succession in both kingdoms. The treaty is sealed by the marriage of Hattusili's daughter to Ramesses (c.1245 BC). A replica hangs in the United Nations headquarters -- the monument to the first international peace is a 3,300-year-old Egyptian text.
1213 BC The death of Ramesses II -- the end of an era Ramesses II dies c.1213 BC after a reign of approximately 66 years and 2 months -- at approximately 90 years old, the oldest pharaoh whose age at death is reasonably well established. His final years are marked by severe physical deterioration: his mummy shows extreme dental disease (abscesses throughout his jaw that must have caused constant pain), severe arthritis in his hips and knees, arteriosclerosis and possibly gout. Despite this physical deterioration, the administration of Egypt apparently continued normally until the end -- the machinery of the state functioning independently of the pharaoh's personal involvement. His mummy is found in the Deir el-Bahari cache in 1881, reburied there in antiquity by the priests of Amun to protect it from tomb robbers. He is succeeded by his 13th son Merneptah, who is himself approximately 60 -- an extraordinary comment on the length of his father's reign.