Ramesses II: The Pharaoh Who Refused to Be Forgotten

 

Hey there, time travelers. Today I am taking the lead because Liam is still trying to recover from the heat the last time we landed in ancient Egypt. If you think surviving math class is hard, try standing next to a Pharaoh who ruled for more than sixty years.

Let me introduce you to Ramesses II, also known as Ramesses the Great. He ruled during Egypt’s New Kingdom, a period when Egypt was richer, stronger, and larger than ever before. When people talk about powerful Pharaohs, his name almost always comes first.

A Young King with Enormous Ambitions

Ramesses II became Pharaoh in his twenties and ruled for about sixty six years during the thirteenth and twelfth centuries BCE. That means entire generations of Egyptians were born, grew up, and had children under the same king.

He built a massive royal family to match his massive ambitions. Ramesses had over 200 wives and concubines and more than 100 children. His Great Royal Wives were Egyptian noblewomen who held the highest positions in society. He also married foreign princesses from Babylon, Syria, and the Hittite Empire to secure peace and alliances. Later in life, he even married some of his own daughters, which Pharaohs believed kept the royal bloodline pure.

His most famous wife was Nefertari. She was admired for her intelligence, beauty, and political influence. Ramesses built her a magnificent temple at Abu Simbel, where she is shown almost equal in size to the king, which was extremely rare. The walls include inscriptions praising her wisdom and beauty, proving that she was far more than a decorative queen.

The Battle of Kadesh: Victory or Clever Storytelling

One of the most famous events of Ramesses’ reign was the Battle of Kadesh, fought against the Hittite king Muwatalli II in what is now Syria.

Ramesses marched north to capture the city of Kadesh, but the Hittites launched a surprise chariot attack. For a moment, the Egyptian army was in serious danger. Reinforcements arrived just in time to prevent disaster, and the battle ended without a clear winner.

Years later, Egypt and the Hittite Empire signed what historians consider the first recorded peace treaty in history. Instead of continuing to fight, the two powers agreed to help each other against common enemies.

Here is where things get interesting. Although the battle was technically a stalemate, Ramesses filled temple walls across Egypt with dramatic carvings of himself charging bravely into battle and crushing the enemy. He even spread the story on scarab shaped stone inscriptions so people throughout the kingdom would hear about his heroic victory.

If ancient rulers had social media teams, Ramesses would have run the most impressive campaign of them all.

The Master Builder

Ramesses II believed that monuments could make a king immortal. He ordered enormous building projects throughout Egypt, including the temple complex at Abu Simbel and his memorial temple known as the Ramesseum.

Statues of Ramesses towered above visitors, showing him calm, powerful, and almost godlike. His name was carved into temples, obelisks, and statues across the land. By placing his image everywhere, he ensured that people would associate prosperity and strength with his rule.

This strategy worked remarkably well because more than 3,000 years later, we still know his name.

Old Age, Death, and an Unexpected Journey

Ramesses lived into his nineties, which was extraordinary in a time when most people lived only thirty to forty years. By the end of his reign, many Egyptians had never known another ruler.

His mummy was discovered in 1881 in a secret royal cache at Deir el-Bahri, where priests had hidden the bodies of about fifty rulers and nobles to protect them from tomb robbers. His official tomb was in the Valley of the Kings, but it was not safe from looting.

Examinations of his mummy show that he was tall and strong, though he suffered from arthritis and serious dental problems in his later years. Today, his preserved body is displayed in Cairo, where visitors can see the face of one of history’s most famous rulers.

Was He Truly Great

Historians still debate whether Ramesses II deserves the title “the Great.” Some view him as a skilled ruler who kept Egypt stable and powerful for more than six decades. Others argue that he exaggerated his victories and focused heavily on shaping his image.

Because much of what we know about him comes from monuments he commissioned himself, it can be difficult to separate fact from royal storytelling. What cannot be denied is that Ramesses understood something very important about leadership and memory. Power fades, but stories endure.

And here we are, thousands of years later, still talking about him.

If that is not a successful legacy, I do not know what is.