Ramses The ll

King Ramses II , who reigned for 67 years during the 19th dynasty of the 12th century BC, was known as "Ramses the Great". He is known as one of Egypt's greatest warriors, but also as a peace-maker and for the monuments he left behind all over Egypt. He was the first king in history to sign a peace treaty with his enemies, the Hittites, ending long years of wars and hostility.King Ramses reigned for 67 years (1292–1225 B.C.). Under him Egypt acquired unprecedented splendor. His empire extended from Syria to near the Fourth Cataract of the Nile.

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King Ramses the ll(KRll) regin was prosperous new technology, more slaves, more land, beautiful temples, and an increased mercenary army all which afterwards Egypt's prosperety began to decline.

Ramses The Great marched 20,000 soldiers north into Syria to defend his empire against Hittite invaders. His empire stretched from South Syria to the fourth cataract of the Nile. Social life was luxurious for the upper classes during his reign and Ramses The Great left many monuments to himself. Ramses duty was to preserve the union of Upper and Lower Egypt which he did by defeating Egypts enemies and honoring the gods.

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"The Hittite army of 37,000 footsoldiers and 3500 chariots was hiding behind the tell of Kadesh, but Ramses believed false rumors that his enemy was still near Haleb. After beating what he thought was the truth out of two captured Hittites, he held a council of war and the vizier in a chariot and a rider on horseback were dispatched south to hasten the progress of the Ptah division. While the Amen division was setting up camp, 2500 Hittite chariots attacked the marching Re division in two waves. The other two Egyptian divisions were still on the far side of the river Orontes (Arnath) near the town of Sabtuna. G.Cavillier casts doubts on the possibility of the Hittite army being able to hide from the view of the Egyptians and ford the Orontes in sufficient numbers in a very short time to be able to mount a surprise attack. [1] - but if they were stationed on the western bank of the river they did not have to cross the Orontes itself but only the small brook el Mukadiyeh, being stationed on the fields between the river and the town.
At this time, a force referred to as nearin arrived, surprising the pilfering Hittites, and drove them out of the camp. Their identity is the subject of debate. At times they are equated with sDm-aS (Sedjemash), which accords well with the meaning of Ugaritic n'rm. According to this interpretation they were camp-followers: servants, grooms and others. Others see them as recruits coming from Amurru. Muwatalli sent an additional 1000 chariots led by the kings of Aleppo and Karkhemish, two of his own brothers and many allied princes, but kept most of his infantry to himself on the far side of the river.
Ramses reorganized his forces and the Hittites escaped being surrounded by the Egyptians by retreating towards Kadesh. After receiving a message from Muwatalli, Ramses decided to retreat. According to the Egyptians, the "wretched, vanquished chief of Hatti" pleaded with the pharaoh
Suteh are you, Baal himself, your anger burns like fire in the land of Hatti... Your servant speaks to you and announces that you are the son of Re. He put all the lands into your hand, united as one. The land of Kemi, the land of Hatti, are at your service. They are under your feet. Re, your exalted father, gave them to you so you would rule us. Is it good, that you should kill your servants? ... Look at what you have done yesterday. You have slaughtered thousands of your servants ... You will not leave any inheritance. Do not rob yourself of your property, powerful king, glorious in battle, give us breath in our nostrils. The route through the Biqa'a valley being considered too risky, it was decided to take the route east of it, through Upe in the region of Damascus.
The battle of Kadesh should perhaps not be called a battle in the strictest sense of the word, but rather a large-scale skirmish preceding the decisive encounter which in the end never took place. Nevertheless, Muwatalli was able to rob his opponent of the initiative and eliminated about a third of his troops. The failure of Ramses' campaign was a result of his tactical mistakes. He did not send enough scouts to explore the countryside sufficiently, the divisions were separated by up to 15 kms from each other and there was no adequate protection of the flanks. Still, the king blamed his troops
not one of my princes, of my chief men and my great,Was with me, not a captain, not a knight;For my warriors and chariots had left me to my fate,Not one was there to take his part in fight. ........Here I stand,All alone;There is no one at my side,My warriors and chariots afeared,Have deserted me, none heardMy voice, when to the cravens I, their king, for succor, cried.But I find that Ammon's graceIs better far to meThan a million fighting men and ten thousand chariots be.
The Poem of Pentaur This attack on the army and his leaders was the beginning of the gradual distancing process between army and king, who relied more and more on Amen and his priesthood. Since the reign of Horemheb, who had appointed a general to succeed him, the army command had played a decisive role in foreign policy decisions. Ramses II reasserted the royal power in this domain and brought about a rapprochement between Egypt and Hatti which culminated in the signing of a peace treaty.
Ramses described the campaign as a splendid victory, while in reality Kadesh remained in Hittite hands, Amurru fell to the Hittites and the Egyptian losses were substantial. "

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David, Rosalie; Handbook to the Life In Ancient Egypt. 1998 Facts on File Inc.

During KRll the upper class were made mainy of militairy officers. He reigned during the middle kingdom so he would lead the men into battle. His army consisting of many foot soldiers and mercenaries. When they fought the Hiksos they would fight chariots that later they woukd use. He allowed his militairy officers to loot cities they had destroyed and give some to the men. His army would load loot onto carts drawn by pack animals like ox, mules, and donkeys if they couldn't carry it or if it was a far distance. (David 239)

"King Ramses II was the third pharaoh in the nineteenth dynasty. He ruled from 1304- 1237 BC and was the son of Seti I and his grandfather was Ramses I. Ramses is regarded as the greatest Pharaoh in Egyptian history. (Kjeilen II 1) Ramses accomplished the most of any pharaoh during his period of rule. When Ramses became the Pharaoh, previous kings and figures of authority tested him. It was customary for previous rulers to examine the new pharaohs. Past emperors would test a new king’s power to see if Ramses would be able to keep peace and non-violence in his period of rule. (Usr-Maat 1) Despite Ramses vigorous testing, Ramses accomplished many goals and went on to become a great King."

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Lehner, Mark. The Complete Pyramids. New York, New York: Thames and Hudson, 1997

Hobson, Christine. The World Of The Pharaohs. New York, New York: Thames and Hudson, 1997.

"Ramses had an uncontrollable love for building. Not only did Ramses construct many of his own monuments, Ramses inscribed messages and depicted scenes of his own on many buildings and statues already built. An example of this would be that on the outer walls of the Temple of Karnak, he depicted the battle at Kadesh in great detail. It showed Ramses slaying Hittite warriors. (Hobson 138) The magnificent Sphinx, which is still an enigma to us today, were the greatest constructions until the period of Ramses. (Lehner 127) If visitors who come to the Temple think about how big the Sphinx are that is how big many of Ramses statues are.

Ramses also contributed to the building of the Hypostle Wall. Ramses constructed two pylons from cinder squares, which led to the actual Hypostle Wall. (Hobson 136) The Hypostle Wall was started by his grandfather Ramses I, finished by his father Seti I, and it was illegally seized by Ramses II. Ramses II had no legal right to the building, yet the pharaoh still took it under his name. (Hobson 136). Regardless of the fact that he is regarded as the greatest pharaoh in Egyptian history, Ramses was notorious for illegally seizing buildings that were already constructed. Ramses II was also concluded to have erected Per- Ramesses, which means "Great Palace." (Hobson 122) One of the most regarded buildings is the magnificent Rammeseum. Inside the Rammeseum, there are hundreds of statues lying fallen on the ground, many of Ramses and some others of miscellaneous categories. This modern marvel was made for Ramses’s cult. (Hobson 143) Ramses contributed to his mystique by erecting the Temple at Abu-Simbel."

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After KRll died he was buried in the Necropolis in The Valley of the Kings his tomb was looted and was not found. the next ruler anfter ramses was his twelfth oldest son Merenptah. He was regarded as the greatest ruler in all of anceient Egypt's history. Even with all of the technology and tools we have today we are not ableto duplicate the massive well sturctured and organized temples and building today. He was definantly the worlds greatest artistic hand.