BIOGRAPHY:

Ramesses II (can also be pronounced “Rameses” or “Ramses”, most often referred to as Ramesses the Great) was the third pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty of the New Kingdom era, who was born in 1303 BC, died in June or August 1213 BC and reigned from 1279 to 1213. BC. Quite often regarded as the greatest and most powerful pharaoh in Egyptian chronology. His successors and later Egyptians called him the “Great Ancestor”. Pharaoh Ramesses II carried out several military expeditions into the Levant, thus establishing Egyptian control over the lands of Canaan. He also made campaigns south into Nubia, which is recorded in the inscriptions in the temples of Kalabsha and Gerf Hussein.

At the age of fourteen, Ramesses II was appointed prince regent of his father Seti I. Taking the royal throne at a young age, he is known to have ruled the Egyptian Empire for 66 or 67 years. Estimates of the age at which he died vary, but it is most likely that the pharaoh was 90 or 91 years old at the time of his death. For Ramses II, an unprecedented number of “heb-sed” festivals (an anniversary celebration that was celebrated in the 30th year of the monarch’s reign, and then every 3 years) is attested in ancient Egyptian history – fourteen, i.e. more than any other pharaoh. After his death, the ruler was buried in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, but later his body, along with other mummies of Egyptian monarchs, was moved to the royal rock cache, where it was discovered in 1881. Currently, the mummy of Ramesses the Great is kept in the Cairo Museum. A significant part of the pharaoh’s reign was devoted to the construction of new cities, temples and monuments. He founded a new capital in the Nile Delta – the city of Pi-Ramesses – as the main outpost for his conquests in Syria. In Greek sources, Ramesses is known by the name “Ozymandias” or “Ozymandis”, which came from the transliteration of part of the pharaoh’s throne name “Usermaatra Setepenra”, translated as “Strong in righteousness of Ra, Chosen of Ra.”

 FAMILY RELATIONS:

Ramesses the Great was the son of Pharaoh Seti I and the “Great Royal Wife” Tuya. The young prince most likely also had two brothers, one of whom, named Nebhasetnebet, died at a young age. There were also sisters named Tia and Henutmira, the latter of whom was also the wife of Ramesses II for a long time and bore the title of “Great Queen”.

Marriages of Ramesses II :

Probably due to the fact that being one of the most famous ancient Egyptian monarchs, who had dozens of queens and concubines, from whom he had more than a hundred sons and daughters, Ramses II gained fame as a wife-beater and fornicator. It is also undeniable that the pharaoh made absolutely no attempt to hide this fact and even ordered to make a list with the names of all his children and build a huge tomb in the Valley of the Kings for some of them. This tomb, now known as “KV5”, has not yet been completely cleared of sand and debris, so it is unknown what secrets it may yet reveal in the future. Despite the abundance of wives and mistresses, it is reliably known that the main woman in the life of the pharaoh was his first and main “Great Royal Wife” and the beauty Nefertari – “She for whom the Sun shines.” Her origin is unknown, but there is an opinion that she was related by blood ties to Pharaoh Ey from the previous dynasty, who, in turn, was a representative of the Amarna period, hated by the Egyptians; Perhaps it was for this reason that Ramses II made considerable efforts to hide his wife’s origins. Nefertari was not only the wife and mother of the pharaoh’s sons, but also took an active part in political processes such as negotiations with the Hittites, since it was her correspondence with the Hittite queen Putuhepa that became one of the foundations of the future peace process.

The love that the pharaoh professed towards Nefertari was so strong that he ordered the construction of a second temple for her at Abu Simbel, where the queen was presented in the form of the goddess Hathor, and her statues were the same size as those of the king himself, which was quite unusual for Egypt. Unfortunately, it is likely that Nefertari never got to see the opening of her temple, as she died before it opened, in the 26th year of the pharaoh’s reign. Her tomb, QV66, contains the best preserved wall paintings in the entire Valley of the Queens. After Nefertari’s death, Ramesses’ second wife, Isetnofret, or “Iset the Beautiful”, with whom the pharaoh had been married from a young age, ascended as the “Great Royal Wife”. Unlike her predecessor, this woman always remained in the shadows, but is believed to have had an extraordinary mind, since during her lifetime she managed to provide all her children with the most important positions in the state. Some historians even suggest that the rivalry between Nefertari and Isetnofret could have reached such a stage that the latter decided to secretly murder the pharaoh’s first wife. However, in the absence of any historical data on this matter, this is just speculation. The date of Isetnofret’s death is unknown, but during her lifetime she shared the post of “Chief Royal Wife” also with other women. Apart from his first two wives, Ramesses had five other queens. Apparently, these included his sister (or daughter) Henutmira, the Hittite princess Maathornefrura (who was the pledge of peace with Hattusili III), Nebettaui (possible daughter of Isetnofret) and two of his daughters. The phenomenon of incest was actually widespread throughout ancient Egyptian history, so there is no doubt that the “Great Royal Wives” of Ramesses II were his daughters Maritamon (born from Nefertari) and Bintanat (from Isetnofret), who were thus supposed to replace their mothers who held significant political and religious positions before their disappearance.

 Children of Ramesses II:

As for the sons and daughters of Ramesses II, then, as far as scientists know, there were at least 152 of them. The most important of them were: – born from Nefertari: Amonherkhepeshef. Pharaoh’s firstborn. Died under mysterious circumstances several years after the death of his mother; Meritamon. The fourth of the pharaoh’s daughters and the firstborn of Nefertari. As a result, she took the place of the “Great Royal Wife” after her mother and took part in numerous ceremonies, including the opening of Abu Simbel; Parahoruenemef (third son), Mariatum (sixth) and Merira (eleventh). There was also a daughter named Henuttawi, whom the pharaoh married, but who never managed to take the position of “Great Royal Wife”;

born from Isetnofret: Ramesses. The second son of the pharaoh and one of the most powerful representatives of the royal family in the first half of the reign of Ramesses II. Died on the same day as his half-brother Amonherkhepeshef; Benthanate. The king’s eldest daughter. As with Meritamun, Ramesses married Bentanath, who represented his late mother Isetnofret. She is believed to have been the mother of at least one daughter, Bentanath II, who was to become the “Great Royal Wife” of Ramesses II’s successor; Haemuaset. Fourth son of Ramesses II. He held the position of High Priest of Ptah and gained fame as the wisest man in the state; there were even rumors that he was a powerful sorcerer. He died at a fairly old age several years before the death of his father; Merenptah. The thirteenth child of Ramesses II and the next pharaoh of Egypt. However, due to his father’s extremely long reign, he was never destined to achieve significant success upon ascending the throne. He was married to his sister Isetnofret II.

 Period of co-rule:

Apparently, the palace that was built in Memphis for Ramesses II by his father could indicate the possible co-rule of two pharaohs, although exact evidence of this hypothesis was never found. At the same time, next to Ramses II, his two main wives appeared – Nefertari and Isetnofret – with whom he married at the age of 15. Nothing is known about their origin. Egyptologists suspect that Isetnofret, in particular, was a Syrian princess. Scientists are prompted to this theory by the name of her daughter Bintanat, which translates as “Daughter of the goddess Anat,” and, as you know, Anat was the goddess of one of the Syrian regions in Asia. At the age of 16, Ramesses already had significant power over the Egyptian army, and numerous inscriptions from the time describe him as a “clever young leader.” By that time he was already the father of four children. During his eventual regency, Ramesses II also presided over several minor rebellions in Nubia and acted as his father’s official delegate to oversee the construction of temples and the quarrying of building materials in the south of the empire. Traditionally, the young Ramesses II is believed to be the powerful Egyptian monarch mentioned in the Book of Exodus, a biblical text based on the stories of the Passover Haggadah addressed to the Jewish people.

 ACCESSION TO THE THRONE:

Shortly thereafter, on the 26th day of the third month of Shemu, in 1279 BC, Ramesses’ father, Seti I, died, and a day later, on the 27th day of the third month of Shemu (May 31, according to the Yulin calendar, and May 20, according to the Gregorian calendar), Ramesses II assumed sole rule of the state at the age of about 20. A kind of “chronological anchor” that serves to determine the correspondence of ancient Egyptian dates with the modern calendar is the new moon, witnessed in the 52nd year of the reign of Ramesses II and which, according to Egyptologists, also fell on the 27th day, when the pharaoh ascended the throne. Around August 7 (12th day of the second month of Akhet) 1279 BC. Ramses attended the funeral of his father Seti, preparations for which traditionally lasted at least 70 days from the moment of death and consisted mainly of rituals of the mythological ascension of the king’s soul to the heavenly deities. After this, the coronation of the young pharaoh was held, during which he put on the khepresh crown and received the full royal title of five names, including his personal name “Rameses”. Throne name. Usermaatra Stepenra – “Strong in truth, Ra, Chosen One of Ra”; the epithets “Image of Ra”, “Ruler of Thebes”, “Heir of Ra”, “Favorite of Ra”, “Lord”, “Strong as Montu” could also be present. Choral name. “The mighty bull, the Favorite of Maat, God at the festival “sad”, like his father Ptah-Tatenen, the Favorite of Ra, who tramples all foreign countries with his foot, the Joy of Maat; A mighty force that raises Thebes; Endowed with power, the son of Atum with great victories and by his strength in battle, with a great kingdom and great prestige, which Ma’at praises, establishes the influence of an empire in every (foreign) country; Uniting the Two Lands, with an unshakable will and mighty strength, Great at the festival of “sed”, Lover of the Two Lands; Strong the bull Ra, smashing the Asians; the Lord-bull, the lord of the holiday, “gray-haired” like Tatenen.” Nebti-name. “Protector of Egypt, subjugating all countries; Ra, who created the statues of the gods of the Two Lands; Divine image of Khepri, with great prestige; Protector of Egypt, who erected excellent monuments at Luxor for his father Amun and established His power on the throne; Bringer of truth to the horizon; Protector of millions, Leo with an unshakable will and mighty strength, protecting his army, which brought him enemies attacking, falling on their faces and asking for peace.” Golden name. “Golden Horus, rich in his years, great victories and great influence; Favorite of the Two Lands, Steadfast in Thebes and useful to his father who created him; Mighty in his strength and subjugating the Nine Bows (enemies of Egypt); With great victories in every foreign state , with great prestige and mighty power; He who subjugates foreign countries and defeats rebels.” The coronation ceremony was carried out in sacrament and was accompanied by a night ceremony in the “House of Life”. After this, the new pharaoh, dressed in rich robes, was able to climb onto a golden chariot and ride in a solemn procession in front of the jubilant Egyptian people who welcomed him.

DEATH AND LEGACY:

At the time of his death, Ramesses II was nearly 90 years old and suffered from severe dental problems, arthritis, and blocked blood vessels. During his reign, Egypt accumulated unprecedented wealth, which was collected here from all over the empire and other states. Ramesses II outlived many of his wives and children, for whom he erected memorials throughout the country, in particular to his beloved wife Nefertari. In his honor, the next nine Egyptian monarchs also adopted the name “Ramesses”. For many of his subjects, this pharaoh was the only ruler throughout their lives. Ramesses II, as he wanted, became a legendary figure for Egypt, but nevertheless this was not enough to protect the state from subsequent decline. Soon, new external enemies attacked the empire, which was torn from within by palace intrigues and political disagreements. Less than 150 years after Ramesses the Great, the era of the New Kingdom ended and the greatness of the Egyptian Empire came to an end.

MUMMIFICTAION OF PHARAOH:

Ramesses II died on June 27 (18th day of the first month of Akhet) 1213 BC. after 66 years and two months of uninterrupted reign in his capital, Pi-Ramesses. After his death the next day (19th day of the first month of Akhet), the royal throne was taken by his elderly son Merneptah. After this, the king’s body was given to the clergy for a 70-day procedure of mummification and embalming of the deceased. His chest was opened and his internal organs were removed. Since the heart was considered the center and source of human life in Egyptian religion, it was later placed back. The remaining organs were placed for storage in special burial vessels called “canopic jars.” Ramesses’ body was finally cleaned in a sodium bicarbonate solution, after which it was rubbed with palm oil and the mummification process began. To give it its former shape, small leather linings were tied to certain areas of the body. In addition, the entire mummy was covered with countless herbs and flowers. As in the Egyptian myths about Osiris, the king’s genitals were separated from the mummy and mummified separately, after which they were returned to their original place. Then, under the chants and spells of the temple priests, the body was wrapped in bandages made of the best linen fabrics. Before burial, various jewelry and a death mask were put on the mummy. After this, the body was once again completely shrouded in long bandages from the chin to the heels and showered with blue lotus flowers. As a result, the body of the dead pharaoh was placed in a sarcophagus, which was located in his tomb. 10.2. Tomb Ramesses II was buried in tomb KV7 in the Valley of the Kings. However, the mummy of the great king did not remain untouched for long, and already under Pharaoh Ramesses III, during a mass strike of workers of Deir el-Medina, described in the Turin papyrus, looters broke into the tomb and plundered it. The first reburial of the mummy of Ramesses II occurred during the XXI Dynasty. Then the pharaoh’s body was transferred to the tomb KV17, which belonged to his father Seti I, and then to the tomb of the late 17th Dynasty queen Inhapi, where it lay for 72 hours. As a result, the mummy was transferred to the rock cache TT320 in Deir el-Bahri, where it was preserved for several millennia. All data about the movement of the mummy was documented by the priests on her bandages in which she was wrapped. The original tomb of KV7 is located in a very inhospitable area – in one of the deepest places in the Valley of the Kings. As a result, it was repeatedly subjected to floods, which brought tons of various garbage into it. It is believed that on at least ten occasions KV7 was completely sunk. In 1798, the tomb was discovered by scientists from Napoleon’s Egyptian expedition, who were collecting data about the Valley of the Kings. Henry Salt became the first person who decided to excavate this tomb. However, the researchers were in for an unpleasant surprise: due to the fact that sand and debris brought by floods were removed from the corridors, the walls of the tomb began to quickly dry out, so that salt traces were forever imprinted on the reliefs and paintings. The burial site of Ramesses II was also studied by Rosellini and Champollion. In 1845, Karl Richard Lepsius came here and drew up the first plan of the tomb. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, another large flood occurred in the Valley of the Kings, again filling up the KV7 tomb. Currently, its excavations are led by French Egyptologist Christian Leblanc, who hopes to completely clear the site of debris and fully study it.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF RAMESSES II IN HISTORY:

Traditional Assumptions The importance of Ramesses II for world history is not limited only to Ancient Egypt. As one of the most important world leaders of his time in the Middle East, his name appears in several versions of various writings of the period. In the Bible, his name is indirectly part of the name of the capital Pi-Ramses. The Egyptian priest Manetho wrote several texts in Greek about “Ramesses Miamon”, or “Rhapsakes”, and the ancient Greek historian Herodotus used the name “Rampsinitis” to designate the great pharaoh. Diodorus Siculus, who in 60 BC. was particularly impressed by the temple complex now known as the Ramesseum, initially naming its builder “King Ozymandias”, which was a Greek interpretation of the throne name “Usermaatra”. The Roman historians Pliny and Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, in the last years of their lives, mentioned “King Ramsesis” or “Ramesses” in their writings. The name “Ozymandias” (or “Ozymandias”) has gained some fame in modern times, and the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley even wrote a poem of the same name about this Egyptian king in 1818, which was translated into many languages. However, at the beginning of the 19th century, Ozymandias was generally not identified with Ramesses II himself, but rather was considered to be his unknown predecessor or one of his heirs. It was only with the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs by Jean-François Champollion in 1822 that translations of many temple inscriptions, as well as material images of Ramses II, became available to scientists. With the help of more and more discoveries, it became clear that the name of this pharaoh was destined to become legendary forever.
Pharaoh of the Exodus Pharaoh Ramesses II is one of the most popular candidates to replace the famous pharaoh from the biblical Book of Exodus, in which the people of Israel left Egypt, where they were long enslaved. However, this theory remains quite controversial due to the fact that there are no ancient Egyptian sources describing such a large-scale event. Since this topic continues to be the subject of constant speculation, some archaeologists and alternative history researchers question the very existence of the Exodus in world history. In this context, it is worth mentioning the works on adapting Egyptian chronology to biblical events, written by critics of traditional historical sciences David Rohl and Immanuel Velikovsky. However, scientific assessments of ancient Egyptian texts on astronomy and the Amarna Letters, as well as existing parallels with events in other states, for example, in Mesopotamia, exclude any chronological shifts considered by Rohl and Velikovsky.

MENTIONS IN ART AND LITERATURE:

For the French Egyptologist Christian Jacques, the life of Ramesses II served as an example to follow in his fictional historical novels of the Ramesses series: “Son of Light” (2001), “Temple of Eternity” (2005), “Battle of Kadesh” (1999), “Queen Abu -Simbela” (1999) and “In the Shadow of the Acacia” (1999). The poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was impressed by the head of a colossal statue of Ramesses II shown at an exhibition in London in 1816, which was reflected in his poem “Ozymandias”. Two American films, The Ten Commandments (1923) and The Ten Commandments (1956), feature Pharaoh Ramesses II, played by Charles de Rochefort and Yul Brynner, respectively. Based on the same plot, the film “Exodus: Gods and Kings” was shot in 2014, where Joel Edgerton played the role of the great pharaoh. In the 1987 graphic novel Watchmen, one of the superheroes calls himself “Ozymandias” as an alternate name.