Inancient Greek sources, he is calledOzymandias,[c][11] derived from the first part of his Egyptian-language regnal name:UsermaatreSetepenre.[d][12] Ramesses was also referred to as the "Great Ancestor" by successor pharaohs.
For the early part of his reign, he focused on building cities, temples, and monuments. After establishing the city ofPi-Ramesses in theNile Delta, he designated it as Egypt's new capital and used it as the main staging point for his campaigns inSyria. Ramesses led several military expeditions into theLevant, where he reasserted Egyptian control overCanaan andPhoenicia; he also led a number of expeditions intoNubia, all commemorated in inscriptions atBeit el-Wali andGerf Hussein. He celebrated an unprecedented thirteen or fourteenSed festivals—more than any other pharaoh.[13]
Ramesses II was not born a prince. His grandfatherRamesses I was avizier (tjaty) and military officer during the reign of pharaohHoremheb, who appointed Ramesses I as his successor; at that time, Ramesses II was about eleven years old.[18]
After Ramesses I died, his son,Seti I became king, and designated his son Ramesses II as prince regent at about the age of fourteen.[9]
Reign length
Ramesses' date of accession to the throne is recorded as IIIShemu (11th month), day 27, which mostEgyptologists believe to be 31 May 1279 BC.[14][15]
The Jewish historianJosephus, in his bookContra Apionem which included material fromManetho'sAegyptiaca, assigned Ramesses II ("Armesses Miamun") a reign of 66 years, 2 months.[19] This is essentially confirmed by the calendar of PapyrusGurob fragment L, where Year 67, IAkhet day 18 of Ramesses II is immediately followed by Year 1, IIAkhet day 19 ofMerneptah (Ramesses II's son), meaning Ramesses II died about 2 months into his 67th Regnal year.[20]
In 1994, A. J. Peden proposed that Ramesses II died between days 3 and 13 of II Akhet on the basis of Theban graffito 854+855, equated to Merneptah's Year 1 II Akhet day 2.[21] The workman's village ofDeir el-Medina preserves a fragment of a mid-20th dynasty necropolis journal (P. Turin prov. nr. 8538 recto I, 5; unpublished) which records that the date II Akhet day 6 was a Free feast day for the "Sailing of UsimaRe-Setepenre." (for Ramesses II).[22] As the Egyptologist Robert J. Demarée notes in a 2016 paper:
The feast called ẖnw – ‘Sailing’ – was clearly observed in Thebes or atDeir el-Medina during the Ramesside Period in remembrance of the passing of deified royals. The ‘Sailing’ ofAhmose-Nefertari was celebrated on II Shemu 15; the ‘Sailing’ of Seti I on III Shemu 24; and the ‘Sailing’ of Ramesses II on II Akhet 6.[22]
The date of Ramesses II's recorded death on II Akhet (2th month) day 6 falls perfectly within Peden's estimated timeline for the king's death in the interval between II Akhet day 3 and II Akhet day 13. This means that Ramesses II died on 13 August 1213 BC (Year 67, IIAkhet day 6), after reigning 66 years and 74 days.[e] This also falls perfectly within the calculations ofJürgen von Beckerath, who placed Ramesses' death on either late July or early August 1213 BC.[14]
Military campaigns
Early in his life, Ramesses II embarked on numerous campaigns to restore possession of previously held territories lost to theNubians andHittites and to secure Egypt's borders. He was also responsible for suppressing some Nubian revolts and carrying out a campaign inLibya. Though theBattle of Kadesh often dominates the scholarly view of Ramesses II's military prowess and power, he nevertheless enjoyed more than a few outright victories over Egypt's enemies. During his reign, the Egyptian army is estimated to have totaled some 100,000 men: a formidable force that he used to strengthen Egyptian influence.[23]
Battle against Sherden pirates
In his second year, Ramesses II decisively defeated theSherden sea pirates who were wreaking havoc along Egypt's Mediterranean coast by attacking cargo-laden vessels travelling the sea routes toEgypt.[24] The Sherden people probably came from the coast ofIonia, from southwestAnatolia or perhaps, also from the island ofSardinia.[25][26][27] Ramesses posted troops and ships at strategic points along the coast and patiently allowed the pirates to attack their perceived prey before skillfully catching them by surprise in a sea battle and capturing them all in a single action.[28] Astele fromTanis speaks of their having come "in their war-ships from the midst of the sea, and none were able to stand before them". There probably was a naval battle somewhere near the mouth of the Nile, as shortly afterward, many Sherden are seen among the pharaoh's body-guard where they are conspicuous by their horned helmets having a ball projecting from the middle, their round shields, and the greatNaue II swords with which they are depicted in inscriptions of the Battle of Kadesh.[29] In that sea battle, together with the Sherden, the pharaoh also defeated theLukka (L'kkw, possibly the people later known as theLycians), and the Šqrsšw (Shekelesh) peoples.
The immediate antecedents to the Battle of Kadesh were the early campaigns of Ramesses II intoCanaan. His first campaign seems to have taken place in the fourth year of his reign and was commemorated by the erection of what became the first of theCommemorative stelae of Nahr el-Kalb near what is nowBeirut. The inscription is almost totally illegible due to weathering.
In the fourth year of his reign, he captured the Hittite vassal state of the Amurru during his campaign in Syria.[31]
The Battle of Kadesh in his fifth regnal year was the climactic engagement in a campaign that Ramesses fought in Syria, against the resurgent Hittite forces ofMuwatalli II. The pharaoh wanted a victory atKadesh both to expand Egypt's frontiers into Syria, and to emulate his father Seti I's triumphal entry into the city just a decade or so earlier.
He also constructed his new capital,Pi-Ramesses. There he built factories to manufacture weapons, chariots, and shields, supposedly producing some 1,000 weapons in a week, about 250 chariots in two weeks, and 1,000 shields in a week and a half. After these preparations, Ramesses moved to attack territory in theLevant, which belonged to a more substantial enemy than any he had ever faced in war: theHittite Empire.[32]
After advancing throughCanaan for exactly a month, according to the Egyptian sources, Ramesses arrived at Kadesh on 1 May 1274 BC.[33] Here, Ramesses' troops were caught in a Hittite ambush and were initially outnumbered by the enemy, whose chariotry smashed through the second division of Ramesses' forces and attacked his camp. Receiving reinforcements from other Egyptian divisions arriving on the battlefield, the Egyptians counterattacked and routed the Hittites, whose survivors abandoned their chariots and swam theOrontes River to reach the safe city walls.[34] Although left in possession of the battlefield, Ramesses, logistically unable to sustain a long siege, returned to Egypt.[35][36] While Ramesses claimed a great victory, and this was technically true in terms of the actual battle, it is generally considered that the Hittites were the ultimate victors as far as the overall campaign was concerned, since the Egyptians retreated after the battle, and Hittite forces invaded and briefly occupied the Egyptian possessions in the region ofDamascus.[37]
Third Syrian campaign
Egypt's sphere of influence was now restricted to Canaan whileSyria fell into Hittite hands. Canaanite princes, seemingly encouraged by the Egyptian incapacity to impose their will and goaded on by the Hittites, began revolts against Egypt. Ramesses II was not willing to let this stand, and prepared to contest the Hittite advance with new military campaigns. Because they are recorded on his monuments with few indications of precise dates or the regnal year, the precise chronology of the subsequent campaigns is not clear.[38] Late in the seventh year of his reign (April/May 1272 BC[39]), Ramesses II returned to Syria again. This time he proved more successful against his Hittite foes. During this campaign he split his army into two forces. One force was led by his son,Amun-her-khepeshef, and it chased warriors of theŠhasu tribes across theNegev as far as theDead Sea, capturingEdom-Seir. It then marched on to captureMoab. The other force, led by Ramesses himself, attackedJerusalem andJericho. He, too, then entered Moab, where he rejoined his son. The reunited army then marched onHesbon, Damascus, on toKumidi, and finally, recaptured Upi (the land around Damascus), reestablishing Egypt's former sphere of influence.[40][41]
Color reproduction of the relief depicting Ramesses II storming theHittite fortress ofDapur
Ramesses extended his military successes in his eighth and ninth years. He crossed the Dog River (Nahr al-Kalb) and pushed north intoAmurru. His armies managed to march as far north as Dapur,[42] where he had a statue of himself erected. The Egyptian pharaoh thus found himself in northern Amurru, well past Kadesh, inTunip, where no Egyptian soldier had been seen since the time ofThutmose III, almost 120 years earlier. He laid siege to Dapur before capturing it, and returning to Egypt.[43] By November 1272 BC, Ramesses was back in Egypt, atHeliopolis.[39] His victory in the north proved ephemeral. After having reasserted his power over Canaan, Ramesses led his army north. A mostly illegible stele at the Dog River nearBeirut, (Lebanon), which appears to be dated to the king's second year, was probably set up there in his tenth year (1269 BC).[44][45] The thin strip of territory pinched between Amurru and Kadesh did not make for a stable possession. Within a year, they had returned to the Hittite fold, so that Ramesses had to march against Dapur once more in his tenth year. This time he claimed to have fought the battle without even bothering to put on hiscorslet, until two hours after the fighting began. Six of Ramesses's youthful sons, still wearing theirside locks, took part in this conquest. He took towns inRetjenu,[46] and Tunip inNaharin,[47] later recorded on the walls of theRamesseum.[48] This second success at the location was equally as meaningless as his first, as neither power could decisively defeat the other in battle.[49] In year eighteen, Ramesses erected a stele atBeth Shean, on 19 January 1261 BC.[50]
In Year 21 of Ramesses's reign, he concluded a peace treaty with the Hittites known to modern scholars as theTreaty of Kadesh. Though this treaty settled the disputes over Canaan, its immediate impetus seems to have been a diplomatic crisis that occurred followingḪattušili III's accession to the Hittite throne. Ḫattušili had come to power by deposing his nephewMuršili III in the brief and bitterHittite Civil War. Though the deposed king was initially sent into exile in Syria, he subsequently attempted to regain power and fled to Egypt once these attempts were discovered.[51]
When Ḫattušili demanded his extradition, Ramesses II denied any knowledge of his whereabouts. When Ḫattušili insisted that Muršili was in Egypt, Ramesses's response suggested that Ḫattušili was being deceived by his subjects.[51][52] This demand precipitated a crisis, and the two empires came close to war. Eventually, in the twenty-first year of his reign (1259 BC[53]), Ramesses concluded an agreement at Kadesh to end the conflict.[40]
The peace treaty was recorded in two versions, one inEgyptian hieroglyphs, the other in Hittite, usingcuneiform script; both versions survive. Such dual-language recording is common to many subsequent treaties. This treaty differs from others, in that the two language versions are worded differently. While the majority of the text is identical, the Hittite version says the Egyptians came suing for peace and the Egyptian version says the reverse.[54] The treaty was given to the Egyptians in the form of a silver plaque, and this "pocket-book" version was taken back to Egypt and carved into the temple atKarnak. The Egyptian account records Ramesses II's receipt of the Hittite peace treaty tablets on I Peret 21 of Year 21, corresponding to 10 November 1259 BC, according to the standard "Low Chronology" used by Egyptologists.[55]
The treaty was concluded between Ramesses II and Ḫattušili III in year 21 of Ramesses's reign (c. 1259 BC).[53][56] Its 18 articles call for peace between Egypt and Hatti and then proceeds to maintain that their respective deities also demand peace. The frontiers are not laid down in this treaty, but may be inferred from other documents. The Anastasy Apapyrus describes Canaan during the latter part of the reign of Ramesses II and enumerates and names thePhoenician coastal towns under Egyptian control. The harbour town ofSumur, north ofByblos, is mentioned as the northernmost town belonging to Egypt, suggesting it contained an Egyptian garrison.[57]
No further Egyptian campaigns in Canaan are mentioned after the conclusion of the peace treaty. The northern border seems to have been safe and quiet, so the rule of the pharaoh was strong until Ramesses II's death, and the subsequent waning of the dynasty.[58] When the King of Mira attempted to involve Ramesses in a hostile act against the Hittites, the Egyptian responded that the times of intrigue in support of Mursili III, had passed. Ḫattušili III wrote toKadashman-Enlil II,Kassite king ofKarduniaš (Babylon) in the same spirit, reminding him of the time when his father,Kadashman-Turgu, had offered to fight Ramesses II, the king of Egypt. The Hittite king encouraged the Babylonian to oppose another enemy, which must have been the king ofAssyria, whose allies had killed the messenger of the Egyptian king. Ḫattušili encouraged Kadashman-Enlil to come to his aid and prevent the Assyrians from cutting the link between the Canaanite province of Egypt and Mursili III, the ally of Ramesses.
Ramesses II also campaigned south of thefirst cataract of the Nile intoNubia. When Ramesses was about 22 years old, two of his own sons, includingAmun-her-khepeshef, accompanied him in at least one of those campaigns. By the time of Ramesses, Nubia had been a colony for 200 years, but its conquest was recalled in decoration from the temples Ramesses II built atBeit el-Wali[59] (which was the subject of epigraphic work by theOriental Institute during the Nubian salvage campaign of the 1960s),[60]Gerf Hussein andKalabsha in northern Nubia. On the south wall of the Beit el-Wali temple, Ramesses II is depicted charging into battle against tribes south of Egypt in a war chariot, while his two young sons,Amun-her-khepsef and Khaemwaset, are shown behind him, also in war chariots. A wall in one of Ramesses's temples says he had to fight one battle with those tribes without help from his soldiers.[clarification needed]
Wall Painting of the Temple of Beit El-Wali, which Ramses II constructed in Nubia now in theBritish Museum
Libyan campaigns
The godsSet (left) andHorus (right) blessing Ramesses II in the Small Temple at Abu Simbel
During the reign of Ramesses II, the Egyptians were evidently active on a 300-kilometre (190 mi) stretch along theMediterranean coast, at least as far asZawyet Umm El Rakham, where remains of a fortress described by its texts as built on Libyans land have been found.[61] Although the exact events surrounding the foundation of the coastal forts and fortresses is not clear, some degree of political and military control must have been held over the region to allow their construction.
There are no detailed accounts of Ramesses II's undertaking large military actions against theLibyans, only generalised records of his conquering and crushing them, which may or may not refer to specific events that were otherwise unrecorded. It may be that some of the records, such as theAswan Stele of his year 2, are harking back to Ramesses's presence on his father's Libyan campaigns. Perhaps it wasSeti I who achieved this supposed control over the region, and who planned to establish the defensive system, in a manner similar to how he rebuilt those to the east, the Ways of Horus across NorthernSinai.
Sed festivals
Reused building block found inTanis that is thought originally to have been part of a depiction of theSed festival for Ramesses II Bronze brazier of Ramesses II used for burning incense.Agold andlapis lazuli duck-shaped bracelet of Ramesses II.
As of Year 28 of his reign, Ramesses II favored the godAmun above all other divinities, as evidenced in the texts of two separateostraca discovered at Deir el-Medina.[62]
By tradition, in the 30th year of his reign, Ramesses celebrated a jubilee called theSed festival. These were held to honour and rejuvenate the pharaoh's strength.[63] Only halfway through what would be a 66-year reign, Ramesses had already eclipsed all but a few of his greatest predecessors in his achievements. He had brought peace, maintained Egyptian borders, and built numerous monuments across the empire. His country was more prosperous and powerful than it had been in nearly a century.
Sed festivals traditionally were held again every three years after the 30th year; Ramesses II, who sometimes held them after two years, eventually celebrated an unprecedented thirteen or fourteen.[64]
Building projects and monuments
In the third year of his reign, Ramesses started the most ambitious building project after thepyramids, which were built almost 1,500 years earlier. Ramesses built extensively from theDelta toNubia, "covering the land with buildings in a way no monarch before him had."[65]
Colossal Statue of Ramesses II in the first peristyle court atLuxor
Some of the activities undertaken were focused on remodeling or usurping existing works, improving masonry techniques, and using art as propaganda.
In Thebes, the ancienttemples were transformed, so that each of them reflected honour to Ramesses as a symbol of his putative divine nature and power.
The elegant but shallow reliefs of previous pharaohs were easily transformed, and so their images and words could easily be obliterated by their successors. Ramesses insisted that his carvings be deeply engraved into the stone, which made them not only less susceptible to later alteration, but also made them more prominent in the Egyptian sun, reflecting his relationship with the sun deity,Ra.
Ramesses used art as a means of propaganda for his victories over foreigners, which are depicted on numerous temple reliefs.
Hiscartouches are prominently displayed even in buildings that he did not construct.[66]
He founded a new capital city in the Delta during his reign, calledPi-Ramesses. It previously had served as a summer palace during Seti I's reign.[67]
Ramesses II expanded gold mining operations in Akuyati (modern day Wadi Allaqi).[68]
Ramesses II moved the capital of his kingdom from Thebes in the Nile valley to a new site in the eastern Delta. His motives are uncertain, although he possibly wished to be closer to his territories in Canaan and Syria. The new city of Pi-Ramesses (or to give the full name,Pi-Ramesses Aa-nakhtu, meaning "Domain of Ramesses, Great in Victory")[69] was dominated by huge temples and his vast residential palace, complete with its own zoo. In the 10th century AD, the Bible exegete RabbiSaadia Gaon believed that the biblical site of Ramesses had to be identified withAin Shams.[70] For a time, during the early 20th century, the site was misidentified as that ofTanis, due to the amount of statuary and other material from Pi-Ramesses found there, but it now is recognized that the Ramesside remains at Tanis were brought there from elsewhere, and the real Pi-Ramesses lies about 30 km (18.6 mi) south, near modernQantir.[71] The colossal feet of the statue of Ramesses are almost all that remains above ground today. The rest is buried in the fields.[69]
The temple complex built by Ramesses II betweenQurna and the desert has been known as theRamesseum since the 19th century. The GreekhistorianDiodorus Siculus marveled at the gigantic temple, now no more than a few ruins.[72]
Oriented northwest and southeast, the temple was preceded by two courts. An enormous pylon stood before the first court, with the royal palace at the left and the gigantic statue of the king at the back. Only fragments of the base and torso remain of thesyenite statue of the enthroned pharaoh, 17 metres (56 ft) high and weighing more than 1,000tonnes (980long tons; 1,100short tons). Scenes of the pharaoh and his army triumphing over the Hittite forces fleeing before Kadesh are represented on the pylon. Remains of the second court include part of the internal facade of the pylon and a portion of the Osiride portico on the right. Scenes of war and the alleged rout of the Hittites at Kadesh are repeated on the walls. In the upperregisters, feast and honour of the phallic deityMin, god of fertility.
On the opposite side of the court, the few Osiride pillars and columns still remaining may furnish an idea of the original grandeur.[73] Scattered remains of the two statues of the seated king also may be seen, one in pink granite and the other in black granite, which once flanked the entrance to the temple. Thirty-nine out of the forty-eight columns in the greathypostyle hall (41 × 31 m) still stand in the central rows. They are decorated with the usual scenes of the king before various deities.[74] Part of the ceiling, decorated with gold stars on a blue ground, also has been preserved. Ramesses's children appear in the procession on the few walls left. The sanctuary was composed of three consecutive rooms, with eight columns and thetetrastyle cell. Part of the first room, with the ceiling decorated with astral scenes, and few remains of the second room are all that is left. Vast storerooms built of mud bricks stretched out around the temple.[73] Traces of a school for scribes were found among the ruins.[75]
A temple ofSeti I, of which nothing remains beside the foundations, once stood to the right of the hypostyle hall.[74]
In 1255 BC, Ramesses and his queenNefertari had traveled intoNubia to inaugurate a new temple,Abu Simbel. It is said to be ego cast into stone; the man who built it intended not only to become Egypt's greatest pharaoh, but also one of its deities.[76]
The temple at Abu Simbel was discovered in 1813 by the Swiss Orientalist and travelerJohann Ludwig Burckhardt. An enormous pile of sand almost completely covered the facade and its colossal statues, blocking the entrance for four more years. ThePaduan explorerGiovanni Battista Belzoni reached the interior on 4 August 1817.[77]
Other Nubian monuments
As well as the temples of Abu Simbel, Ramesses left other monuments to himself in Nubia. His early campaigns are illustrated on the walls of theTemple of Beit el-Wali (now relocated toNew Kalabsha). Other temples dedicated to Ramesses areDerr andGerf Hussein (also relocated to New Kalabsha). For the temple of Amun atJebel Barkal, the temple's foundation probably dates during the reign of Thutmose III, while the temple was shaped during his reign and that of Ramesses II.[78]
Other archeological discoveries
Granite statue of Ramesses II from Thebes.Museo Egizio,Turin, Italy.
The colossalstatue of Ramesses II dates back 3,200 years, and was originally discovered in six pieces in a temple nearMemphis, Egypt. Weighing some 83-tonne (82-long-ton; 91-short-ton), it was transported, reconstructed, and erected in Ramesses Square in Cairo in 1955. In August 2006, contractors relocated it to save it from exhaust fumes that were causing it to deteriorate.[79] The new site is near theGrand Egyptian Museum.[80]
In 2018, a group of archeologists in Cairo's Matariya neighborhood discovered pieces of a booth with a seat that, based on its structure and age, may have been used by Ramesses.[81][82] "The royal compartment consists of four steps leading to a cubic platform, which is believed to be the base of the king's seat during celebrations or public gatherings," such as Ramesses' inauguration and Sed festivals. It may have also gone on to be used by others in theRamesside Period, according to the mission's head. The excavation mission also unearthed "a collection ofscarabs,amulets, clay pots and blocks engraved withhieroglyphic text."[82]
In December 2019, a red granite royal bust of Ramesses II was unearthed by an Egyptian archaeological mission in the village of Mit Rahina in Giza. The bust depicted Ramesses II wearing a wig with the symbol "Ka" on his head. Its measurements were 55 cm (21.65 in) wide, 45 cm (17.71 in) thick and 105 cm (41.33 in) long. Alongside the bust, limestone blocks appeared showing Ramesses II during theHeb-Sed religious ritual.[83] "This discovery is considered one of the rarest archaeological discoveries. It is the first-ever Ka statue made of granite to be discovered. The only Ka statue that was previously found is made of wood and it belongs to one of the kings of the 13th dynasty of ancient Egypt which is displayed at the Egyptian Museum inTahrir Square," said archaeologistMostafa Waziri.
In May 2023, French archaeologists from theSorbonne University in Paris identified part of the original granite sarcophagus of Ramesses II.[84] The fragment of granite sarcophagus had been reused by a high priest of the 21st Dynasty namedMenkheperre, around 1000 BCE but its original owner was unknown until Frédéric Payraudeau's careful analysis discovered the cartouche of Ramesses II on it.[85] The sarcophagus dates back to approximately 1279-1213 BCE, aligning with Ramesses II’s reign and "its elaborate design and inscriptions underscore the artistic and religious conventions of the era."[86] Payraudeau states in his study published inRevue d'Égyptologie:
"The quality of the craftsmanship and the specific references to deities like Ra andOsiris strongly indicate that this sarcophagus was initially intended for Ramesses II,"[87]
In September 2024, it was published that during an archaeological excavation of a 3,200 year old fort along the Nile, researches found a golden sword with Ramses II signature on it.[88]
Death and burial
The Egyptian scholarManetho (third century BC) attributed Ramesses a reign of 66 years and 2 months.[89]
Sarcophagus of Ramesses II.
By the time of his death, aged about 90 years, Ramesses was suffering from severe dental problems and was plagued byarthritis,hardening of the arteries andheart disease.[90][91] He had made Egypt rich from all the supplies and bounty he had collected from other empires, outliving many of his wives and children and leaving great memorials all overEgypt. Nine more pharaohs took the name Ramesses in his honour.
Originally Ramesses II was buried in tombKV7 in theValley of the Kings,[92] but because of looting in the valley, priests later transferred the body to a holding area, re-wrapped it, and placed it inside the tomb of queenAhmose Inhapy.[93] Seventy-two hours later it was again moved, to thetomb of the high priestPinedjem II. All of this is recorded in hieroglyphics on the linen covering the body of his coffin.[94] Hismummy was eventually discovered in 1881 inTT320 inside an reused but ordinary wooden coffin[f] and is now inCairo'sNational Museum of Egyptian Civilization (until 3 April 2021 it was in theEgyptian Museum).[96]
Profile and frontal views of Ramesses II's mummy
The pharaoh's mummy reveals anaquiline nose and strong jaw. It stands at about 1.7 metres (5 ft 7 in).[97]Gaston Maspero, who first unwrapped the mummy of Ramesses II, writes, "on the temples there are a few sparse hairs, but at the poll the hair is quite thick, forming smooth, straight locks about five centimeters in length. White at the time of death, and possibly auburn during life, they have been dyed a light red by the spices (henna) used in embalming ... the moustache and beard are thin. ... The hairs are white, like those of the head and eyebrows ... the skin is of earthy brown, splotched with black ... the face of the mummy gives a fair idea of the face of the living king."[98][99]
In 1975,Maurice Bucaille, a French doctor, examined the mummy at theCairo Museum and found it in poor condition. French PresidentValéry Giscard d'Estaing succeeded in convincing Egyptian authorities to send the mummy to France for treatment. In September 1976, it was greeted atParis–Le Bourget Airport with full military honours befitting a king, then taken to a laboratory at theMusée de l'Homme.[100][101][102] Persistent claims that the mummy was issued with apassport for the journey are incorrect, but may be based on the French wordpasseport being used to describe the extensive documentation required.[103]
The mummy was forensically tested in 1976 byPierre-Fernand Ceccaldi, the chiefforensic scientist at the Criminal Identification Laboratory of Paris. Ceccaldi observed that the mummy had slightly wavy, red hair. From this trait combined with cranial features, he concluded that Ramesses II was of a "Berber type" and hence – according to Ceccaldi's analysis – fair-skinned.[104][105] Subsequent microscopic inspection of the roots of Ramesses II's hair proved that the king's hair originally was red. Unlike Maspero, who had assumed the hair had been dyed by the mummufication process, Bucaille discovered that the red hair was natural, which suggests that he came from a family of redheads.[106][107] This has more than just cosmetic significance: in ancient Egypt people with red hair were associated with the deitySet, the slayer ofOsiris, and thus the enemy ofHorus (Horus being the son of Osiris).[108] In addition, it's noted that the name of Ramesses II's father, Seti I, means "follower of Set", and that Seti's father, Ramesses I, had served as theHigh Priest of Set underAmenhotep III.[109]Cheikh Anta Diop disputed the results of the study, arguing that the structure of hair morphology cannot determine the ethnicity of a mummy and that a comparative study should have featuredNubians inUpper Egypt before a conclusive judgement was reached.[110]
Mummy of Ramesses II in 2015
In 2006, French police arrested a man who tried to sell several tufts of Ramesses' hair on the Internet. Jean-Michel Diebolt said he had got the relics from his late father, who had been on the analysis team in the 1970s. They were returned to Egypt the following year.[111]Ramesses II's arthritis is believed to have made him walk with a hunched back for the last decades of his life.[112] A 2004 study excludedankylosing spondylitis as a possible cause and proposeddiffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis as a possible alternative,[113] which was confirmed by more recent work.[114] A significant hole in the pharaoh'smandible was detected. Researchers observed "anabscess by his teeth (which) was serious enough to have caused death by infection, although this cannot be determined with certainty".[112]
After being irradiated in an attempt to eliminate fungi and insects, the mummy was returned from Paris to Egypt in May 1977.[115]
Tomb wall depictingNefertariA ram headed amulet dating to c.1254 BC during the reign of Ramesses II found in theSerapeum of Saqqara.Gold, cloisonné, glass and turquoise pectoral bearing thecartouche or royal name of Ramesses II.
The tomb of the most importantconsort of Ramesses was discovered byErnesto Schiaparelli in 1904.[73][77] Although it had been looted in ancient times, the tomb ofNefertari is extremely important, because its magnificent wall-painting decoration is regarded as one of the greatest achievements ofancient Egyptian art. A flight of steps cut out of the rock gives access to the antechamber, which is decorated with paintings based on chapter seventeen of theBook of the Dead. The astronomical ceiling represents the heavens and is painted in dark blue, with a myriad of golden five-pointed stars. The east wall of the antechamber is interrupted by a large opening flanked by representation ofOsiris at the left andAnubis at the right; this in turn leads to the side chamber, decorated with offering-scenes, preceded by a vestibule in which the paintings portray Nefertari presented to the deities, who welcome her. On the north wall of the antechamber is the stairway down to the burial-chamber, a vast quadrangular room covering a surface-area of about 90 square metres (970 sq ft), its astronomical ceiling supported by four pillars, entirely decorated. Originally, the queen's red granitesarcophagus lay in the middle of this chamber. According to religious doctrines of the time, it was in this chamber, which the ancient Egyptians called the Golden Hall, that the regeneration of the deceased took place. This decorative pictogram of the walls in the burial-chamber drew inspiration from chapters 144 and 146 of the Book of the Dead: in the left half of the chamber, there are passages from chapter 144 concerning the gates and doors of the kingdom of Osiris, their guardians, and the magic formulas that had to be uttered by the deceased in order to go past the doors.[77]
In 1995, ProfessorKent Weeks, head of theTheban Mapping Project, rediscovered TombKV5. It has proven to be the largest tomb in the Valley of the Kings, and originally contained the mummified remains of some of this king's estimated 52 sons. Approximately 150 corridors and tomb chambers have been located in this tomb as of 2006 and the tomb may contain as many as 200 corridors and chambers.[116] It is believed that at least four of Ramesses's sons, includingMeryatum, Sety,Amun-her-khepeshef (Ramesses's first-born son) and "the King's Principal Son of His Body, the Generalissimo Ramesses, justified" (i.e., deceased) were buried there from inscriptions,ostraca orcanopic jars discovered in the tomb.[117]Joyce Tyldesley writes that thus far
no intact burials have been discovered and there have been little substantial funeral debris: thousands of potsherds, faienceushabti figures, beads, amulets, fragments of Canopic jars, of wooden coffins ... but no intact sarcophagi, mummies ormummy cases, suggesting that much of the tomb may have been unused. Those burials which were made in KV5 were thoroughly looted in antiquity, leaving little or no remains.[117]
In literature and the arts
Ramesses is the basis forPercy Bysshe Shelley's poem "Ozymandias".Diodorus Siculus gives an inscription on the base of one of his sculptures as: "King of Kings am I, Osymandias. If anyone would know how great I am and where I lie, let him surpass one of my works."[118] This is paraphrased in Shelley's poem.
The life of Ramesses II has inspired many fictional representations, including thehistorical novels of the French writerChristian Jacq, theRamsès series; the graphic novelWatchmen, in which the character of Adrian Veidt uses Ramesses II to form part of the inspiration for his alter-ego,Ozymandias;Norman Mailer's novelAncient Evenings, which is largely concerned with the life of Ramesses II, though from the perspective of Egyptians living during the reign ofRamesses IX; and theAnne Rice bookThe Mummy, or Ramses the Damned (1989), in which Ramesses was the main character. InThe Kane Chronicles Ramesses is an ancestor of the main characters Sadie and Carter Kane. Ramesses II is one of the characters in the video gameCivilization V, as well as in additionaldownloadable content for its sequel,Civilization VI.
Ramesses II is a main character in the fiction bookThe Heretic Queen byMichelle Moran, published in 2008. It is a novel about the love story and beginning years of the marriage of Pharaoh Ramesses and QueenNefertari, during the time Ramesses is trying to decide who will be queen between his two wives, Nefertari and Iset. Nefertari is the daughter and orphan of QueenMutnodjmet and General Nakhtmin, niece of QueenNefertiti and PharaohAnkhenaten. The book is told from the perspective of Nefertari and is fiction, but deals with many historical events during the beginning of Ramesses' reign and many historical people, giving readers a view of what life and these historical figures may have been like.
Though scholars generally do not recognize the biblical portrayal of the Exodus as an actual historical event,[120] various historical pharaohs have been proposed as the corresponding ruler at the time the story takes place, with Ramesses II as the most popular candidate forPharaoh of the Exodus. He is cast in this role in the 1944 novellaThe Tables of the Law byThomas Mann. Although not a major character, Ramesses appears inJoan Grant'sSo Moses Was Born, a first-person account from Nebunefer, the brother of Ramose, which paints a picture of the life of Ramose from the death of Seti, replete with the power play, intrigue, and assassination plots of the historical record, and depicting the relationships withBintanath,Tuya,Nefertari, andMoses.
In film, Ramesses is played byYul Brynner inCecil B. DeMille's classicThe Ten Commandments (1956). Here Ramesses is portrayed as a vengeful tyrant as well as the main antagonist of the film, ever scornful of his father's preference for Moses over "the son of [his] body".[121] The animated filmThe Prince of Egypt (1998) also features a depiction of Ramesses (voiced byRalph Fiennes, for both the speaking and the singing), portrayed as Moses' adoptive brother, and ultimately as the film's villain with essentially the same motivations as in the earlier 1956 film.Joel Edgerton played Ramesses in the 2014 filmExodus: Gods and Kings.Sérgio Marone plays Ramesses in the 2015–2016 Brazilian telenovela seriesOs Dez Mandamentos (English:'The Ten Commandments').
In the 2013 miniseriesThe Bible, he is portrayed by Stewart Scudamore.
TheQuran states thatFirawn died fromdrowning. Maurice Bucaille supported this claim from the research he had done on Ramesses' body, which eventually led to his conversion to Islam.[122][123]Ali Gomaa also announced in 2020 that when there were tests run on the body of Ramses, the reason of death was found to besuffocation. EgyptianarchaelogistZahi Hawass however states that it's not possible to know whether he died of drowning or not, as thelungs are not present in themummy.[124][91][122]
^That is, 66 years, 2 months, and 14 days according to theEgyptian calendar, whichdoes not match theJulian norGregorian calendar. All twelve Egyptian months had exactly 30 days, with an additionalintercalary month of 5 days to complete the 365-cycle.
^The coffin of Ramesses II is thought to have been originally commissioned forHoremheb before being reused for the reburial of Ramesses II during the Wehem Mesut.[95]
^Drews (1993), p. 54: "Already in the 1840s Egyptologists had debated the identity of the "northerners, coming from all lands," who assisted the Libyan King Meryre in his attack upon Merneptah. Some scholars believed that Meryre's auxiliaries were merely his neighbors on the Libyan coast, while others identified them as Indo-Europeans from north of the Caucasus. It was one of Maspero's most illustrious predecessors, Emmanuel de Rougé, who proposed that the names reflected the lands of the northern Mediterranean: the Lukka, Ekwesh, Tursha, Shekelesh, and Shardana were men fromLydia,Achaea,Tyrsenia (western Italy),Sicily, andSardinia." De Rougé and others regarded Meryre's auxiliaries—these "peoples de la mer Méditerranée"—as mercenary bands, since theSardinians, at least, were known to have served as mercenaries already in the early years of Ramesses the Great. Thus the only "migration" that the Karnak Inscription seemed to suggest was an attempted encroachment by Libyans upon neighboring territory."
^Gale, N. H. (2011). "Source of the Lead Metal used to make a Repair Clamp on aNuragic Vase recently excavated at Pyla-Kokkinokremos on Cyprus". In Karageorghis, V.; O. Kouka (eds.).On Cooking Pots, Drinking Cups, Loomweights and Ethnicity in Bronze Age Cyprus and Neighbouring Regions. Nicosia.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Kitchen 1982: 67; Obsomer 2012: 189–190 doubts the dating of the Moabite campaign to Year 7–8 by Kitchen, on the grounds that Amun-her-khepshef might have been too young to carry out such an independent role.
^Eyre, Christopher (1998).Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, Cambridge, 3-9 September 1995. Leuven: Peeters. p. 171.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
^Reeves, Nicholas (2017)."The coffin of Ramesses II". In Amenta, Alessia; Guichard, Helene (eds.).Proceedings First Vatican Coffin Conference 19–22 June 2013 Volume 2. Edizioni Musei Vaticani. pp. 425–438. Retrieved15 December 2021.
^"NMEC".nmec.shorthandstories.com. Retrieved18 August 2023.
^Chhem, R. K.; Schmit, P.; Fauré, C. (October 2004). "Did Ramesses II really have ankylosing spondylitis? A reappraisal".Can Assoc Radiol Journal.55 (4):211–217.PMID15362343.
^Saleem, Sahar N.; Hawass, Zahi (2014). "Brief Report: Ankylosing Spondylitis or Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis in Royal Egyptian Mummies of the 18th–20th Dynasties? Computed Tomography and Archaeology Studies".Arthritis & Rheumatology.66 (12):3311–3316.doi:10.1002/art.38864.ISSN2326-5205.PMID25329920.S2CID42296180.
^"'Cleaned-Up' Mummy Flown Home to Egypt".Los Angeles Times.Associated Press. 11 May 1977. p. 20.Archived from the original on 30 October 2019. Retrieved30 October 2019.CAIRO (AP)—The 3,212-year-old mummy of Pharaoh Ramses II was returned from Paris Tuesday, hopefully cured by radiation of 60 types of fungi and two strains of insects.
^Shelley, Percy Bysshe."Ozymandias". Archived fromthe original on 10 October 2006. Retrieved18 September 2006 – via Representative Poetry Online. First publication:— (11 January 1818). "Ozymandias".The Examiner. No. 524.
^Sanders, Ed (1997).1968: A History in Verse. Black Sparrow Press. p. 255.
^Grabbe, Lester (2014)."Exodus and History". In Dozeman, Thomas; Evans, Craig A.; Lohr, Joel N. (eds.).The Book of Exodus: Composition, Reception, and Interpretation. BRILL. pp. 61–87.ISBN9789004282667.
Kitchen, Kenneth (1982).Pharaoh Triumphant: The Life and Times of Ramesses II, King of Egypt. London: Aris & Phillips.ISBN978-0-85668-215-5.
Kitchen, Kenneth Anderson (1996).Ramesside Inscriptions Translated and Annotated: Translations. Volume 2: Ramesses II; Royal Inscriptions. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.ISBN978-0-631-18427-0. Translations and (in the 1999 volume below) notes on all contemporary royal inscriptions naming the king.
Hasel, Michael G. (2004). "The Structure of the Final Hymnic-Poetic Unit on the Merenptah Stela".Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft.116:75–81.doi:10.1515/zatw.2004.005.
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