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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] Ramses II Biography RAMESES II, or RAMSES II, (c,1340-1273 B.C.), the son of Seti I and the grandson of Rameses I, figures in history as the grand monarque of Egypt. The earlier portion of his reign was spent in war with the Cheta or Hittites, who occupied the former Asiatic possessions of Egypt as far south as the northern border of Palestine. In his second year he reconquered Phoenicia as far as Berytus, and left a memorial inscription on the banks of the Nahr el Kelb. In his sixth year he moved against the important city of Kadesh on the Orontes, but, though he was successful in an engagement with the enemy's chariot force, no decisive result was obtained and the city did not surrender. In the fighting around Kadesh, Rameses with a detachment of his troops was cut off from the main body and was for a time in personal danger. His exploits on this occasion form the theme of the so-called poem of Pentaur (q.v.), in which they are celebrated with gross exaggeration. The war continued with varying success for a number of years, but finally a peace was arranged by the terms of which Egypt retained Phoenicia as far as Byblus and a strip of territory to the north of Palestine. In his twenty-first year Rameses concluded an offensive and defensive alliance with the King of the Hittites and cemented it by marrying his daughter. Of the treaty two copies have been discovered on the temple walls at Thebes, and a Hittite copy was discovered in 1906 in Babylonia cuneiform on a tablet found at Boghaz-kieui. The remainder of Ramesess long reign was peaceful and is chiefly remarkable for the large number of important edifices constructed by the King, who, as a builder, surpassed all other Pharaohs. By his many wives and concubines be had many children, 162 being mentioned by name on the monuments. He died after a reign of 67 years and his mummy, at first buried at Bibān el Mulūk, was subsequently concealed from grave robbers in the shaft at Deir el Bahri, where it was found in 1881. Rameses II was formerly rewarded as the Pharaoh of the oppression, and his son, Mer-en-Ptah, as the Pharaoh of the Exodus; see, however, the section on ancient history under EGYPT. See Plate with EGYPTIAN ART. The New International Encyclopaedia Vol. XIX (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 532-533. |