Pharaoh Ramesses II

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RAMESSES (RAMSES) II inherited a challenge and a vision when he came to power around 1279 BCE. Two hundred years before, the Eighteenth Dynasty kings Thutmose (Tuthmosis) I and III had carried Egypt to the dizziest heights of her political power. They had "extended the boundaries of Egypt" as far as the great western bend of the Euphrates River. Even under pressure from rival powers like Mitanni, Egypt had still ruled up the coast to Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra), and to Qadesh (Tell Nebi Mend) in inland Syria. Far south, up the Nile River, Egypt's boundary had been set beyond the Fourth Cataract, extending the rule of the pharaohs for some two thousand miles (3,200 kilometers) from the Mediterranean coasts to the northern Sudan. Just a century before Ramesses's time, Eighteenth Dynasty magnificence reached its peak under Amenhotep (Amenophis) III, expressed most tangibly in the construction of temples of previously unequaled size and splendor. The duty of any pharaoh was to equal, if not surpass, the achievements of his "royal ancestors" in the service of the gods and so to the benefit of Egypt. So the Eighteenth Dynasty set a high standard to emulate.
But that same dynasty had bequeathed a negative challenge also. Amenhotep III's son—as Akhenaten—had plunged Egypt into turmoil. During his absorption in the attempt to substitute exclusive worship of the sun disk Aten (Aton) for that of Egypt's large family of gods, foreign affairs had taken a back seat. Conflict between the Hittites and Mitanni spilled over into Egypt's sphere in Syria, losing her the control of Ugarit, Qadesh, and much else. The losses were not recovered by Akhenaten's successors, leaving the military faction in Egypt as dissatisfied as the dispossessed priests had been under Akhenaten (see the preceding article in this section).
The New Men
Last ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty, Horemheb had brought back internal order and prosperity to Egypt. But, for the third time, in succession, Egypt had a pharaoh with no son to assure the succession. To solve that problem, Horemheb turned to a long-standing military colleague of his, Pramesse, appointing him first as senior vizier, then as official heir to the kingdom. Pramesse hailed from the east Delta and came of a traditionally military family. He had a son, Sety (Seti, Sethos), who (even before Horemheb's death) had children of his own, including a baby boy who was destined to become the Ramesses II of history. So, when Pramesse did succeed Horemheb (as Ramesses I), the new dynasty—the Nineteenth Dynasty—had a ready-made succession of its own, to assure the future of Egypt's kingship.
The new king himself died in his secondyear, giving way to his son Sety I. The policies that the father had no opportunity to enact were vigorously executed by the son. In three or four campaigns, Sety I crushed all opposition in Egyptian-held Canaan, reaffirmed his rule over the Phoenician ports, and briefly wrested south-Syrian Qadesh from the Hittites, leaving there a victory stela as his "visiting card." But this triumph was transient, and Qadesh soon returned to Hittite rule, probably by a treaty that recognized Egypt's dominance in Phoenicia. Neither side saw advantage in prolonging conflict.

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More permanent were Sety's works of peace. Here, he planned to honor the greatest gods of Egypt on a scale even surpassing the Eighteenth Dynasty. King of the gods, patron of empire, was Amun of Thebes—it was the overweening theological claims of this deity that had led Akhenaten to banish him in favor of Aten. But Sety I followed the subtler policy of giving Amun the greatest buildings, but honoring him as merely the first of three chief gods. The other two were Re, traditional sun-god at Heliopolis (biblical On), and Ptah, the venerable creator-god at Memphis (modern Mit Rahina). Alongside these three, Osiris at Abydos (modern Araba al-Madfuna) embodied the Egyptians' hopes for life after death. So Sety built magnificently for all four deities. For Amun in Thebes, he turned the new front court of Karnak's temple into the greatest columned hall ever seen then or since—the "Great Hypostyle Hall" of modern guidebooks. Directly opposite, on the desert's edge west of the Nile, he built his own large memorial temple for himself and his father, as local forms of Amun, for their afterlife. In the Desert Valley of the Kings, Sety ordered to be dug the vastest underground tomb that had existed up to that time. In the tomb at the traditional capital, Memphis, Sety planned another great hall for the temple of Ptah. Across the Nile at Heliopolis, he undertook a great pylongateway, fronted by obelisks (one of which is now in Rome), statues, and an avenue of sphinxes. At Abydos he erected his noblest temple, in honor of Osiris, Amun-Re, Ptah, and himself, in creamy limestone, exquisitely carved and painted, plus a "tomb" of Osiris.
In all of these activities, the young prince Ramesses was involved with his father, as a royal apprenticeship—taken on campaigns, sent out with quarrying expeditions, and so on. Eventually, Sety declared Ramesses prince regent, giving him almost all of the trappings of kingship. He went on his own first little "war" in Nubia, ordered the building of his first temple, also in Nubia at Bayt al-Wali, became titular army chief, and so on. Then, at the height of his powers, Sety I died in the twelfth or fourteenth year of his reign (opinions are divided on which year). Thus, in his twenties, young Ramesses II inherited a vast empire and all his father's unfinished projects as legacy.
The new king had chosen his traditional five-fold titles to express his ideals and ambitions with unusual clarity. As a goddess, Ma'at personified truth, justice, right order in life. So, as Falcon King (Horus) and Strong Bull, Ramesses took the epithet "Beloved of Ma'at," patron of Egypt's highest values. As protégé of the ancient goddesses of Upper and Lower Egypt (nebty), he declared himself "Protector of Egypt, Vanquisher of Foreign Lands." As Golden Falcon, his hope was to be "Rich in Years, Great in Victories." His twin cartouches (royal rings) enclosed the throne name User-maat-Setepenre, "Sun [Re] Strong in Ma'at, Chosen of the Sun-god," and his personal name Ramesses, "Beloved of Amun."
The young king's first duty was to bury his father, Sety I, in the latter's sumptuous tunnel-tomb, hidden away deep in the Valley of the Kings in the desert hills on the west bank at Thebes. "Who buries inherits" was the Egyptian rule, on the mythological model of Horus burying his father, Osiris. Ramesses stayed on to celebrate Amun's great feast of Opet and (as was customary then) to make new administrative appointments and promotions.

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Thus, by Amun's oracle, a new high priest of Amun was appointed. Ramesses would also have chosen (in committee) the site for his own tomb in the royal valley; certainly, his own vast memorial temple (the Ramesseum) was already begun in.
western Thebes. Sailing back north, Ramesses called in at Abydos and found it necessary to give fresh impetus to the work of completing his father's magnificent temple, no doubt alongside work on his own nearby. Then, it was back to Memphis and to his project for a new east-Delta capital at his hometown, now to be called Pi-Ramsese, "Domain of Ramesses" (near the modern site of Tell al-Dab'a at Qantir).
Such projects needed wealth. So in year 3, the young king sought eagerly to increase exploitation of the gold mines in Nubia. In Akuyati (Wadi al-'Allaqi area) were rich deposits, but acute water-supply problems hindered work there. His plans bore fruit; water was found, and so the gold could be mined. Equal success attended his first campaign in Syria. Signaling his passage by a stela near the Dog River (Nahr al-Kalb) in the Lebanon in year 4, Ramesses overwhelmed the kingdom of Amurru, compelling it to forsake Hittite allegiance and return to Egyptian rule.
Battles Royal (Years 5–18)
Encouraged by his initial success, Ramesses aimed at the recapture of Qadesh, which would open the way to northern Syria as in the great days of Thutmose III. But the aggrieved Hittite ruler Muwattalli (Muwatallis) II planned otherwise. He mustered the biggest army he could, lay in wait just east of Qadesh, and sent out two spies who were to allow themselves to be captured and misinform Ramesses that Muwattalli was far distant. (See "Military Organization in Egypt" in Part 4, this volume.)

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References:
1.Kitchen, K. A. (1982/1985). Pharaoh Triumphant: The Life and Times of Ramesses II, King of Egypt. Aris & Phillips
2.Gardiner, A. H. (1960). The Kadesh Inscriptions of Ramesses II. Oxford University Press.
3.Gardiner, A. H., & Langdon, S. (1920). “The Treaty of Alliance Between Hattušili, King of the Hittites, and the Pharaoh Ramesses II.” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 6, 179–205.

英语2402王晓丹

Your post provides a detailed and clear overview of Ramesses II’s rise to power, his inheritance from the 18th and 19th Dynasties, and his early military and building projects. It highlights how Ramesses II balanced military expansion with religious diplomacy—unlike Akhenaten’s exclusive worship of Aton. The use of parallel structures between Seti I and Ramesses II effectively shows the continuity and ambition of the 19th Dynasty.The content is very detailed. Thank you for sharing!

罗黎

The mysteries of Pharaoh and pyramids have attracted me when I was young. Reading the history of Pharaoh is really wonderful in revealing true historical events and being amazed by ancient human civilization.