Ramesses the Great Born: Egypt's Mightiest Pharaoh

Ramesses II ruled Egypt for sixty-six years, from approximately 1279 to 1213 BC, the second-longest documented reign in pharaonic history after Pepi II. He built more monuments, fathered more children, and waged more military campaigns than virtually any other Egyptian ruler, earning him the title "Ramesses the Great." Born around 1303 BC, the son of Pharaoh Seti I and Queen Tuya, Ramesses was appointed co-regent and military commander while still a teenager. He took sole power around age 25 and immediately embarked on an ambitious building program. The temples at Abu Simbel, carved into a sandstone cliff in Nubia, feature four colossal statues of Ramesses himself, each over sixty feet tall, guarding the entrance. The interior walls depict his military victories and divine status. His most famous military engagement was the Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BC against the Hittite Empire, fought near the Orontes River in modern Syria. Ramesses led a force of approximately 20,000 soldiers against a comparable Hittite army. The battle was tactically inconclusive; both sides claimed victory. What followed was more significant than the battle itself: Ramesses negotiated a formal peace treaty with the Hittite king Hattusili III around 1258 BC. The Treaty of Kadesh is the earliest known international peace agreement between two sovereign states, and a copy is displayed at the United Nations headquarters in New York. He fathered an estimated 100 to 200 children with multiple wives and concubines. His principal wife, Nefertari, was honored with one of the most beautifully decorated tombs in the Valley of the Queens. He outlived many of his own children and was succeeded by his thirteenth son, Merneptah, who was already elderly. His mummy, discovered in the Deir el-Bahari cache in 1881, shows a man of tall stature with red hair (possibly dyed or oxidized). He suffered from arthritis, dental abscesses, and arterial disease. His body was issued a modern Egyptian passport in 1974 to fly to Paris for conservation treatment. The occupation listed on the passport was "King (deceased)."