Ramses Essay, Research Paper

Ramses II

Ramses II a Egyptian king the third ruler of the 19th dynasty and the son of Seti I. Ramses was born some time around 1304 BC and died around 1237 BC. Ramses was one of the greatest rulers of ancient Egypt if not than the best as Pharaoh Ramses was the most powerful known to mankind under him came the high priest and below the high priests came the prophets. Ramses life remain a mystery but he always recorded his big achievements. Ramses II was on the Egyptian throne for 67 years. Over all those years it was mostly quite and peaceful. Also over his reign in ancient Egypt Ramses became known for his great construction ?He was the most prolific builder of any age? . Ramses had a hard childhood he was given great responsibilities and great honors and by the age of ten Ramses was captain of the army. By 1920 BC Ramses, just like many new kings spent the first few years visiting his kingdom and all the territories to see where the troubled areas are. In his fifth year of ruling Egypt, Ramses ran into some trouble, King Muwatallish of the Hittites who was planning to attack Egypt. Therefore Ramses set out and crossed the Egyptian frontier about 15 miles from Kadesh Ramses found the division of Re who were unaware that the Egyptians were coming and they were not prepared for battle so they fled to another group called Amun and they to were unaware of the Egyptians. So the two groups fled to Kadesh to meet the Hittites. Ramses attacked pushing the groups into the riverbank. King Muwatallish watched the battle from a distance forgetting to send in his 8,000 spearmen. Ramses head long charges had pushed the Hittites back to the river banks. The next day the savered hands of the dead were presented to Ramses. The troops praised their leader! Ramses was proud and the only thing he praised was his shield-bearer and his two horses. The battle of Kaldesh could have easily been won by the Hittites if they had all their forces but they didn?t know that that Ramses army was coming. Neither side ended up wining. When Ramses left he didn?t take Kaldesh but returned home in a hurry. Ramses not taking Kaldesh cost him dearly because now other states now knew their weakness. 16 years after the battle of Kaldesh, in the 21st year of Ramesses? power the Hittite-Egyptian were no longer hostile and a major peace treaty became between them. The peace treaty was ahead of its time due to the modern terms used in the agreements. The non-aggression pact and mutual defense pact are just a few examples of the terms used.

Twenty- nine years after the famous battle of Kadesh Ramses had to marry the young daughter of king Khattusilis. When the bride arrived to Egypt the Hittites and the Egyptians celebrated like brothers and there was no fighting. The daughter of the King Khattusilis liked Ramses and became one of Ramses many great wives. Ramses secured Egypt from his marriage with power and wealth.

After Ramses? marriage he got back to building temples. the wealth of his temples were great. Ramses? main temple covered 60 acres and could easily fit ten European cathedrals. Some of his temples include the Abu Simbel the temple of Amon and the mortuary temple at Thebes, known as the Ramessem. 700 acres of land, 81,000 slaves, 400,000 heads of cattle, and 83 ships. His annual income included gold, silver, copper, food, drink, and clothing. The largest statue in the world to have been made out of a single piece of granite set up in the Ramesseum the funerary temple for Ramses the great on the west bank of the Nile at Luxor. Eventually there was an earthquake knocking down the great statue down and breaking it into pieces. Of all the buildings Ramses built, Karnak must be one of the best buildings built by Ramses. Karnak?s Hypostyle Hall is known as one of the wonders of the world. It?s roof is supported by 134 columns and covers an area of 6,000 square yards, that?s as big as sixty football fields. Another one of Ramses great works is probably the rock temples of Abu Simbel. This beautiful piece of art is a monument claiming Ramses southern territory also showing his power to the Nubians. The temple was found in 1823, you could only see one head during that time because the temple was covered with fine sand which drifted from the desert. On the temple there are four great statues they are called the ?Watchers for the Dawn,? They are supposed to inform the pharaoh that the sun god has safely risen. Inside the temple are eight huge statues of Ramses that have been there for over 3,000 years. Past those eight statues lies a second chamber and beyond that lies a antechamber leading to the sanctuary that is 180 feet deep into solid rock. The art work in the temple becomes stronger as you leave the inner part of the temple, they say because the atmosphere became too suffocating for there best work. The temple is solid and impressive! The sand stone ceilings are supported by rock pillars that look like they are going to stay there for an eternity. Everywhere in the temple there are carvings most of them in color. They are carvings are about life in the next world and also about Ramses conquers on earth. The entrance hall in the great temple is 54 feet wide and 58 feet tall. The total width and height of this temple is 120 feet wide and 100 feet high. The temple of Abu Simbel was Ramses best creation ever.

Ramses II was very interesting to do a report about. Although there wasn?t a lot if information about him that I could find he still was pretty interesting. I didn?t even know anything about him building great temples like the Abu Simbel I thought that Ramses was just a great fighter and that he had a great army that took over everything in its path. I also didn?t even think that people in that day could live to the age of 97 like Ramses did. He must of been one amazing pharaoh back in ancient Egypt.

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