Ramesses the Great, his Long Life and Rule of Ancient Egypt

Did you know that when Ramesses the Great died, his people thought the world would end? Hello and welcome to World History Encyclopedia. My name is Kelly and today's video is all about Ramesses II, better known as Ramesses the Great. Don't forget, the easiest way to support us is by giving this video a thumbs up, subscribing to our channel and hitting that bell icon for notifications so you don't miss out on any new uploads. If you haven't already heard, World History Encyclopedia has teamed up with Andante Travels to bring you the Treasures of Ancient Greece guided tour. Join our expert tour guide, Dr. Rita Roussos, as she takes you on a journey through classical Athens, to Delphi, across the Gulf of Corinth and into the Peloponnesian Hills, where the hero Hercules began his 12 labors and King Agamemnon set out to rescue Helen and capture Troy. Make sure to hit the link in the description below to learn all about this trip and we hope to see you there. Ramesses II, also known as Ramesses the Great, as well as the shorter form of his name, Ramesses, was the third pharaoh of the 19th dynasty of Egypt, and not only lived for 96 years, but reigned for 66 of those years, between 1279 and 1213 BCE, in the period known as the New Kingdom of Egypt. Ramesses had over 200 wives and concubines, which resulted in 96 sons and 60 daughters, most of which he outlived, and it was during his reign that Egypt fought the Hittites in the Battle of Kadesh, which resulted in the world's first peace treaty. Upon his death, there was widespread panic, since many of his people, who grew up while he was pharaoh and had never known another, worried that the world would end with the death of their king. Ramesses the Great had his accomplishments inscribed all throughout Egypt, and most ancient sites make mention of him and his achievements as king. Ramesses II was the son of Seti I and Queen Tuya, and by the age of 14, he was accompanying his father on military campaigns to Libya and Palestine. At 22 years old, Ramesses was named co-ruler with Seti and was taking his own sons, Khemweset and Amun-hirwenemeth, on his campaigns in Nubia. Ramesses set his energy to restoration projects and to building a new palace in Avaris. Around this time, the Hittites in modern day Asia Minor were growing in power, and the Egyptians had long had an uneasy relationship with them. During the reign of the Hittite king Suppiluliuma I between 1344 and 1322, the Hittites had captured many important trading centers from Egypt, including centers in Syria and Canaan. Although Seti managed to recapture Kadesh, the most coveted Syrian trading center, the Hittite king Muwatali II took it back. In 1290 BCE, Seti I died, and Ramesses assumed the throne as king of Egypt, and right away he began military campaigns to reassert the borders of Egypt and to take back from the Hittites what he thought of as rightfully his. After only a year of ruling, Ramesses defeated the Sea Peoples, called the Sherdan in Ramesses' accounts, and a somewhat mysterious group of naval raiders allied with the Hittites at this time off the coast of the Nile Delta. Ramesses laid a trap for them at the mouth of the Nile. A small Egyptian naval contingent lured the Sherdan warships in, and then Ramesses launched a full attack from both sides Many of the surviving Sherdan were pressed into Ramesses' army, and some even becoming a part of his elite bodyguard. Prior to the year 1275 BCE, since by then the city was already a functioning military center, Ramesses began construction of a city near the city of Avaris that was so beautifully constructed it rivaled the magnificence of the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, and he named his great city Per-Ramesses, sometimes also called Pyramesses or House of Ramesses. Per-Ramesses was the capital for Ramesses II, and it continued to be an important urban center throughout the Ramesside period. It was a military compound with an armory, military stable, and training ground where Ramesses could launch military campaigns, as well as being a pleasure palace. Continuing his military campaigns, Ramesses marched his army into Canaan, which at the time was a Hittite vassal state, and he was victorious, returning home with plunder and Canaanite royalty, and probably Hittite royalty too, as prisoners. In late 1275 BCE, Ramesses prepared his armies to march on Kadesh. Ramesses led 20,000 men out of Per-Ramesses, divided into four companies named after the gods Amun, Ra, Ptah, and Set, with Ramesses leading their Amun division, followed by the other three divisions. They marched for two months until they arrived at a place to arrange his army into battle formation, but Ramesses was fed false information from two Hittite spies who were purposefully sent to the Egyptians. They told Ramesses that the Hittite army was nowhere near the city, when in fact they were less than a mile away. Lulled into a false sense of security, the Egyptians were setting up camp leisurely when the Hittites attacked. Accounts of the ambush written by Ramesses survive from the poem of Pentor and the Bulletin, which say the Amun division was completely overrun by Hittites. Ramesses fought back and turned the tide of battle when the Ptah division arrived. The Hittites were driven back to the Orontes river and many were killed or drowned trying to escape. Ramesses was now caught between the Hittites and the river and Muatali II could have won the battle by simply sending in his reserve troops, which would have destroyed Ramesses and his army. But the Hittite king didn't do this and Ramesses and his forces managed to drive the Hittites from the field. Ramesses claimed this as a great Egyptian victory, but the battle actually very nearly ended with his defeat and death. In Ramesses' poem of Pentor and the Bulletin, he immortalized his victory, but Muatali II also claimed victory for the Hittites in that they still held the city. What the battle of Kadesh certainly led to though was the first ever peace treaty signed by Ramesses II and Muatali II's successor, Hattusili III. After the battle of Kadesh, Ramesses turned his attention to improving Egypt's infrastructure, strengthening its borders and commissioning monumental building projects. Ramesses built hundreds of temples, monuments and buildings during his time as king, including the vast tomb complex the Ramesseum at Thebes, the temples at Abu Simbel, the complex at Abydos and the great hall at Karnak, just to mention a few monumental highlights which led to his reign to be considered by many historians as the pinnacle of Egyptian art and culture. Nefertari, Ramesses' first wife and favorite queen, appears on numerous temple walls and in statuary from Ramesses reign and the decoration and construction of her tomb was a work of art, despite the queen seemingly having died quite early in their marriage, perhaps in childbirth. Long after he had taken other wives, Nefertari was still engraved on walls and was apparently close in the mind of the king. Ramesses has been popularly associated with the unnamed pharaoh of the biblical book of exodus but there is no evidence to support this claim. Association of Ramesses as this unnamed pharaoh has become quite common in popular culture, all following the lead of Cecil B. DeMille's film The Ten Commandments in 1956, but there is no historical support for this association. Per Ramesses is mentioned in exodus 111 and 1237 as well as numbers 33-3 and 33-5 as one of the cities the Israelite slaves labored on and also as the city they left Egypt from, but the archaeological record of the city provides no evidence of a mass exodus, nor is there any evidence that the city was built by slave labor. Ramesses himself was also a fan of recording his accomplishments and for embellishing the facts of his life along the lines of how he wanted his history to be preserved, so it seems unlikely that such a king would neglect to record the plagues that allegedly fell upon Egypt or the flight of Hebrew slaves. Of course there were extensive records written by others besides Ramesses, but none even hint of a large population of Hebrew slaves nor the exodus from Egypt. In the last century Ramesses II's reign has become somewhat controversial with some scholars claiming he was more of a showman and propagandist than an effective king, but written records of his reign as well as the building projects, the temples, monuments and art all support both a stable and prosperous reign. He spent his long career as king of Egypt securing his borders, increasing the region's wealth and widening the reach of trade. The mummy of Ramesses the Great shows he stood over six feet tall with a strong jaw, thick lips and thin nose. His mummy tells us of his severe arthritis, dental problems and hardening of his arteries which suggests the 96 year old may have died from old age or heart failure. Many later pharaohs would take his name as their own in honor of him and he was known to later Egyptians as the Great Ancestor. Why do you think Ramesses II is associated with the king in the book of Exodus? Let us know what you think in the comments below. If you enjoyed this video make sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel so you don't miss out on our new videos every Tuesday and Friday. This video was brought to you by World History Encyclopedia. For more great articles and interactive content head to our website via the link below. World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization and you can find us on Patreon, a brilliant site where you can support our work and receive exclusive benefits in return. Your support helps us create videos twice a week so make sure to check it out via the pop-up in the top corner of the screen or via the Patreon link down below. Thank you so much for watching and we will see you soon with another video.