The King Ramesses Ii In Egypt History Essay

There are many kings or pharaohs in Egypt for a long time ago, but only a few kings who were regarded as the great king. One of them, Ramesses II is often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh. His successors and later Egyptians called him the “Great Ancestor”. He was the most famous pharaoh in his era, and nowadays he is also well-known for historians over the world. So many scholars, especially, historians want to know, to comprehend, and to analyze why people love and respect him very much. Following research, show that Ramesses II become the remarkable persons depend on some a great features. Thus, I will mention you about his early life, his achievement, his leader ship, and I’ll show you about what happen in his era.

Ramesses II’s Early Life

His childhood:

In 1303 BC Ramesses II was bornto Queen Tuy and his father Sety I. until he was fourteenyears old, he was pointed as Prince Regent by his father(Putnan,1990).At age twenty four,he became the third Egyptian pharaoh of the nineteen dynasty, and ruled Egypt from May-31st, 1279-1213 BC(Rice,1999). It means that the period of his reign is 66 years and 2 month according to both Manetho and Egypt’s contemporary historical records. He used to claim that he have lived to be 99 years old, unfortunately he was died in his 90th years.

Family and Marriage:

Ramses II had eight Royal Wives , all of whom are the last prince was Hittite princess. The others were Nefertari, Istnofret, Bint-Anath, Aerytamun, Nebettawy, Henutmire and Maathomeferure. However, in ancient Egypt, it was unusual to record much information about queens, and today, even though at least Nefertari is known worldwide, we actually know almost nothing about her. She was a lady whom Ramesses II love the most.

After Death of Ramesse II:

In 1213 BC, Ramesses was suffering from severe dental problems and was plagued by arthritis and hardening of the arthritis, so he died at aged about 90 years. He had outlived many of his wives and children and left great memorials all over Egypt, especially to his beloved first queen Nefertari. Nine more pharaohs would take the name Ramesses in his honour, but few ever equalled his greatness. Ramesses IIwant to become the legendary figure to protect Egypt, but he had not enough ability to do. New enemies were attacking the empire which also suffered internal problems and it could not last. Less than 150 years after Ramesses II died the Egyptian empire was decline and the New Kingdom came to the end.

Ramesses II’s Achievement

Ramesseum Memorial Temple:

Because of extraordinarily long reign of Ramesses II, the plentiful wealth available in the state assets, so he had enough ability to complete his achievements. The Ramesseum Memorial Temple was one of great accomplishment, most splendid of these, in accordance with New Kingdom Royal burial practices.TheRamesseumis a place of worship dedicated to pharaoh, god on earth, where his memory would have been kept alive after his passing from this world.

Abu Simbel Temple:

Abu Simbel was a Great Temple of Ramses is about 38 meters long and 31 meters high. The temple is dedicated to the most important gods of the New Kingdom, Ptah (the creator god of Memphis), Amun-Re (the great god of Thebes) and Re-Harakhte (sun god of Heliopolis), as well as to the Pharaoh Ramses II himself. The four colossi, statues of Ramses II are more than 20 meters high and about 4 meters from ear to ear. The front of the Great Temple of Ramses is about 38 meters long and 31 meters high. Othersmaller sculptures between the legs and at the base of the colossi represent members of the royal family such as Princess Nebt-taui, Princess Bant-anat, and Queen Nefertari, etc.

The important of Abydos City:

Abydos City, also a great of Ramesses II’s achievement, has been used as a burial site and sacred site since presynaptic history. It was originally sacred to the jackal-headed god Wepwawet, who “opened the way” to the kingdom of the dead.The Temple of Seti I at Abydos was begun during the reign of PharoahSeti I (1318-1304 BC) and completed by his son Ramses II (1304-1237 BC). The temple represents an artistic revival of Old Kingdom forms.

Emerging of Pi-ramesses City:

Pi-ramesses, a place where Ramesses II was born, and family connections, is a capital of Egypt during the reign of Ramesses II. There are two reasons that he decide to move his capital so far northward from the existing capital at Thebes. One maybe Pi-ramesses is his birth place and memory of his family, and other is geopolitical reasons may have been of greater importance, as there was much closer to the Egyptian vassal states in Asia and to the border with the unfriendlyHittite empire.There are many contractors in Pi-ramesses such as the banks of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile and with a population of over 300,000, and it isalso one of the largest cities of ancient Egypt, Pi-ramesses wasfast developed for more than a century after Ramesses death and poems were written over its glory. According to the latest estimates the city was spread over about 18 km2 or around 6 km long by 3 km wide. This large city consisted of a huge central temple, a large precinct of mansions bordering the river in the west set in ainflexible grid pattern of streets, and a disorderly collection of houses and workshops in the east.

Leadership:

Military force:

During Ramesses II’s reign, the Egyptian army is estimated to have totaled about 100,000 men; a formidable force that he used to strengthen Egyptian influence(Gabriel,1—). Due to the extremely enormous military he won many war and he also enjoyed more than a few entire victories over the enemies of Egypt. Each military under Ramesses II was very brave and powerful.

Battle of Kadesh:

The Battle of Kadeshis the war between Egypt and the Hittite forces of Muwatalli, on the Orontes River of modern Syria, generally dated to 1274 BC during the reign of Ramesses II. It was probably the largest chariot-battle ever fought, with some 5,000 chariots involved.Battle of Kadesh, Rameses II almost defeated by Hittites and in 1269 BC Ramses II and Hattusilis III, king of the Hittites, sign the earliest known peace treaty.

Religious influences

Sed Festival:

The Sed festival (also known as HebSed or Feast of the Tail) was an ancient Egyptian ceremony which was held to celebrate the continued rule of a pharaoh. The name comes from the name of an Egyptian wolf god, one of whose names was Wepwawet or Sed(Shaw, 2003). Ramesses II celebrated an unprecedented 14 seed festival during his reign. This number is more than any other pharaoh (William, 2001).

Mummy:

Ramesses II was originally buried in the tomb KV7 in the Valley of the king, but because of looting, Ancient Egyptian priests later transferred the body to a holding area, re-wrapped it, and placed it inside the tomb of queenInhapy. His mummy can be found today in Cairo’s Egyptian Museum. Egyptologists were also interested by the mummy’s noticeably thin neck. After an x-ray they found that the mummy’s neck had a piece of wood lodged into the upper chest, essentially keeping the head in place. It is believed that during the mummification process that the head of Ramesses II had accidentally been knocked off by those performing the mummification. In Egyptian culture if any part of the body were to come off then the soul of the body would not continue to exist in the afterlife, therefore those performing the mummification carefully placed the head back on by lodging a wooden stick into the neck in order to keep the head in place.

Conclusion

Ramesses II is the most powerful pharaoh in the New Kingdom era. He had accomplished many great achievements, so I think he can be regarded as the most famous in Egypt because he had a very good policy, good leadership, good government, and good character. Almost achievements still exist and become theUNESCO world heritage. In my opinion, the ruler should follow up his strategy to develop their country.