Builder of Odessa Even people who have never lived in Odessa know that the main street of the city is called Deribasovskaya. But why? In the middle of the XVIII century. in the army of the Neapolitan king served as second lieutenant Joseph de Ribas'i'Bayon. He switched to the Russian service, as at that time

XIX dynasty. Reigned 66 years (1317 -1251 BC). Under him, Egypt (see Ancient Egypt) for the last time in the era of the New Kingdom reached significant power. After the accession to the throne of Ramesses II, he waged long wars with the Hittites (hosts, mountain tribes that inhabited the central part of Asia Minor), as a result of which Egypt secured Palestine and Southern Syria. During the struggle, Ramesses II showed outstanding military. abilities (see Cadet).

Materials of the Soviet military encyclopedia are used. v. 7: Radio control - Tachanka. 688 p., 1979.

Ramesses II (throne name - User-maat-Ra-sotep-en-Ra) - pharaoh of the 19th dynasty (1317-1251 BC). Under him, Egypt for the last time in the era of the New Kingdom reached significant power. Continuing the campaigns of his father Seti I, Ramesses restored the power of Egypt in Palestine; in Syria, Ramesses encountered the Hittites, who also laid claim to her. After the Battle of Kadesh (1312 BC), he continued to fight the Hittites until 1296, when he concluded a peace treaty with the Hittite king Hattusili III (the Hittite and Egyptian editions of this first international treaty known in history have come down to us). The war with the Hittites prompted Ramesses II to move his residence to the northeastern Delta, where the city of "Per-Ramses" ("House of Ramses", later Tanis) was built. Ramesses is characterized by an extremely wide construction activity. He built temples in Abydos, Thebes (Ramesseum), extensions in Karnak and Luxor, both cave temples of Abu Simbel, a temple in Edfu, etc. Wars and huge funds spent on the maintenance and construction of temples ruined the working strata, enriching the nobility and priests. The poor became enslaved, and the middle strata gradually lost their economic independence. Ramesses II had to resort to mercenaries, which weakened the country's military potential.

I. S. Katsnelson. Moscow.

Soviet historical encyclopedia. In 16 volumes. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 11. PERGAMUM - RENUVEN. 1968.

Literature: Reader on the history of the Ancient East, M., 1963, p. 119-30; Drioton E. et Vandier J., L "Egypte, 4 ed., P., 1962 ("Clio". Introduction aux études historiques); Gardiner A., ​​Egypt of the Pharaohs, Oxf., 1961.

Watering the garden with shadufs. Painting from the tomb of Ipuya in Thebes. Egypt. XIX dynasty.

Literature:

Avdiev V. I. History of the Ancient East. Ed. 3rd. M., 1970;

Essays on the history of the Ancient East. M., 1956.

Reader on the history of the Ancient East, M., 1963, p. 119-30;

Drioton E. et Vandier J., L "Egypte, 4 ed., P., 1962 ("Clio". Introduction aux études historiques);

Gardiner A., ​​Egypt of the Pharaohs, Oxf., 1961.

Biography

Ramesses (Ramses) II the Great - the pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, who ruled approximately in 1279 - 1213 BC. e., from the 19th dynasty.

Son of Seti I and Queen Tuya. One of the greatest pharaohs of ancient Egypt. He was mainly given the honorary title of A-nakhtu, that is, "Winner". Monuments and papyri often call him the popular nickname Sesu or Sessu. This is undoubtedly the same name that is mentioned in the tradition of Manetho in this way: "Setosis, which is also called Ramesses." Among the Greeks, this name turned into Sesostris, the hero of legendary tales and the world conqueror.

The number of his monuments of various degrees of preservation in Egypt and Nubia is extremely large.

The beginning of the reign

Accession to the throne

Ramesses II ascended the throne on the 27th day of the third month of the Shemu season (i.e. Drought). The young king was at that time about twenty years old.

Despite the huge number of monuments and documents bearing the name of Ramses II, the history of his more than 66-year reign is covered rather unevenly in the sources. Dated documents exist for each year of his reign, but they are extremely heterogeneous: from religious monuments to honey pots from Deir el-Medina.

Victory over the Nubians and Libyans

The change of pharaohs could, as in former times, inspire the hopes of successful uprisings among the oppressed peoples. From the first months of the reign Ramesses the image of the drive of the Canaanite captives to the pharaoh has been preserved, but it is somewhat conditional. But the uprising in Nubia was, apparently, so significant that it took the personal presence of the pharaoh to suppress it. The country was pacified.

During this campaign, only in one sparsely populated region of Irem, 7 thousand people were killed. The governor of Ramesses in Nubia was able to deliver him a rich tribute in the first months of his reign and was made happy for this with awards and royal goodwill. Perhaps, at the very beginning of his reign, Ramesses also had to deal with the Libyans. In any case, an image of his triumph over his western neighbor has been preserved, referring to the first months of his reign.

Defeat of the Sherdans

Not later than the 2nd year of his reign, Ramesses defeated the Sherdans - representatives of one of the "peoples of the sea" (it is believed that they subsequently settled the island of Sardinia). Egyptian inscriptions speak of enemy ships and their defeat during sleep. From this we can conclude that the case took place at sea or on one of the Nile branches and that the warlike Sherdans were taken by surprise by the Egyptians.

The captured Sherdans were included in the ranks of the Egyptian army. They apparently did not feel bad in the service of the pharaoh, since later images show them fighting in Syria and Palestine in the forefront of the warriors of Ramesses.

Successes in domestic affairs

Certain successes have been achieved in domestic affairs. In the autumn of the first year of his reign, Ramesses appointed the faithful Nebunenef (Nib-unanaf), who previously held the post of the first priest of the Tini god Onuris (An-Khara), to the vacant place of the first priest of Amon. In the third year of Ramesses' reign, only at a depth of 6 meters, water was finally found in the gold mines in Wadi Alaki, which significantly increased gold production there.

War with the Hittites

First trip

Having thus strengthened the state, Ramesses began to prepare for a big war with the Hittites. Since Ramesses referred to the "second expedition" as the campaign that ended with the Battle of Kadesh in the 5th year of his reign, it can be assumed that the stele erected in the 4th year at Nahr el-Kelb, north of Beirut, is a reminder of the first campaign. . Despite the fact that almost the entire text has been lost, the image of Ra-Horakhti stretching out his hand to the king leading the captive, allows us to talk about some kind of military event.

Apparently, in the 4th year of his reign, Ramesses undertook his first campaign in Asia Minor, aimed at subjugating the sea coast of Palestine and Phenicia, as a necessary prerequisite for further successful struggle against the Hittites. During this campaign, Ramesses took the city of Berit and reached the Eleutheros River (El-Kebira, "Dog's River"), where he set up his memorial stele. The fact that Nahr el-Kelb is located on the territory occupied by the Amurru tribes probably indicates the subordination of the Amurru king Benteshin to the Egyptian authorities. This happened, first of all, due to the intensification of the Hittite raids, while the Egyptian presence guaranteed at least some calmness. It was this event that became the reason for declaring war between Ramesses II and the Hittite king Muwatalli: this is quite clear from the text of the treaty signed by Shaushkamuya, the son of Benteshin and Tudhaliya, the son of Muwatalli.

Battle of Kadesh

Egyptian army

In the spring of the 5th year of his reign, Ramesses, having gathered more than 20,000 troops, set out from the border fortress of Chilu on the second campaign. After 29 days, counting from the day of the departure from Chilu, four military units of the Egyptians, named after Amon, Ra, Ptah and Seth, each of which had about 5 thousand soldiers, camped at a distance of one march from Kadesh. One of the formations, called in Canaanite "well done" (non-arim), and composed by the pharaoh, apparently from the most selective warriors, was sent along the sea coast even earlier, for subsequent reunion with the main forces at Kadesh.

The next day, in the morning, an army of thousands of Egyptians began crossing the Orontes at Shabtun (later known to the Jews as Ribla). Misled by Hittite scouts sent to the Egyptian camp, who assured that the Hittites had retreated far to the north, to Aleppo, Ramesses with one Amon unit that had already crossed, without waiting for the rest of the army to cross, moved to Kadesh.

Hittite army

In the north, on a small headland at the confluence of the Orontes with its left tributary, battlements and towers of Kadesh were piled up. And in the trans-river plain, to the north-east of the fortress, hidden by the city, the entire army of the Hittite kingdom and its allies stood in full combat readiness.

According to Egyptian sources, the Hittite army consisted of 3,500 chariots with three warriors each and 17,000 infantry. The total number of soldiers was approximately 28 thousand. But the Hittite army was extremely mixed and largely mercenary. In addition to the Hittite warriors, almost all the Anatolian and Syrian kingdoms were represented in it: Artsava, Lucca, Kizzuvatna, Aravanna, Euphrates Syria, Karchemish, Halab, Ugarit, Nukhashshe, Kadesh, nomadic tribes and so on. Each of these multi-tribal allies appeared under the command of their rulers and, consequently, it was extremely difficult for Muwatalli to manage all this crowd.

King Hatti Muwatalli had every reason to avoid fighting the Egyptians in open battle. It was difficult to count on such hordes to defeat the Egyptian army in open battle, united, well-trained and guided by a single will. The ensuing sixteen-year struggle showed that Hatti's troops avoided battles in the open field and holed up more in Syrian fortresses. In any case, none of the innumerable monuments of Ramesses II shows a single major battle with the kingdom of Hatti outside the city walls after the battle of Kadesh. But the battle of Kadesh itself proves that the Hittites relied more on deceit and surprise attacks than on their military strength.

Battle

Having crossed the Orontes, the “Ra” unit did not wait for the “Ptah” and “Set” units, which had not yet even reached the ford, and went north to meet with the pharaoh. Meanwhile, south of Kadesh, out of sight of the Egyptians, the bulk of the enemy's chariot troops concentrated. The crossing of his chariots across the Orontes, obviously, was carried out in advance and passed unnoticed by the Egyptians.

The “Ra” unit in marching order, not ready for battle, was attacked by enemy chariots, and was dispersed with lightning speed, and the chariots fell on the “Amon” unit, which was engaged in setting up the camp. Part of the Egyptian soldiers fled, and part, along with the pharaoh, was surrounded. The Egyptians suffered huge losses. Ramesses managed to rally his guard around him and take up a circular defense. Only the fact that the Hittite infantry could not cross the stormy waters of the Orontes and did not come to the aid of their chariots contributed to the salvation of Ramesses from inevitable defeat. A happy accident - the unexpected appearance on the battlefield of another Egyptian unit, the same one that was walking along the seashore, somewhat straightened out the situation, and the Egyptians were able to hold out until the evening, when the Ptah unit approached Kadesh.

The Hittites were forced to retreat behind the Orontes, receiving, in turn, damage while crossing the river. In this battle, two brothers of the Hittite king Muwatalli, several military leaders and many other notable Hittites and their allies died. The next day, in the morning, Ramesses again attacked the Hittite army, but it was not possible to break the enemy in this battle either. In any case, no source says that the pharaoh took possession of Kadesh. The bloodless opponents were clearly unable to defeat each other.

The Hittite king Muwatalli offered the pharaoh a truce, which gave Ramesses the opportunity to honorably retreat and return safely to Egypt. The Hittite king successfully continued his actions in order to subjugate Amurra and, as a result, removed the ruler Benteshin. The Hittites even moved further south and captured the country of Ube (that is, the oasis of Damascus), formerly belonging to Egypt.

Sources for the Battle of Kadesh

The Battle of Kadesh greatly impressed Ramesses II, who ordered the story of this event and grandiose panoramic "illustrations" to be reproduced on the walls of many temple complexes, including those in Abydos, Karnak, Luxor, Ramesseum and Abu Simbel.

The main sources that tell about what happened are three different texts: a long detailed story with included lyrical digressions - the so-called "Pentaur's Poem"; a short story dedicated to the events of the battle itself - "Report" and comments on relief compositions. Several Hittite documents also mention the Battle of Kadesh.

Capture of Dapur

Sources regarding the further course of the war with the Hittites are very scarce, and the order of events is not entirely reliable. The wars in Asia that Ramesses II waged after the 5th year of his reign were caused, first of all, by the new strengthening of the Hittite kingdom, the hostility of the Syrian north and the loss of Amurru. In the 8th year of his reign, Ramses again invaded Asia Minor. The result of this campaign was the capture of Dapur. With the assistance of his sons, Ramesses besieged and took this strategically important fortress.

The capture of Dapur, depicted on the walls of the Ramesseum, Ramesses considered one of his most glorious deeds. He gave this feat second place after the "victory" at Kadesh. Dapur, located, according to Egyptian texts, “in the country of Amur, in the region of the city of Tunip”, probably by this time had already entered the Hittite Empire, since some sources mention its location at the same time “in the country of Hatti”. As usual, the attack was preceded by a battle on the plain under the fortress, and soon she herself was taken, and a representative of the king of Hatti came out to Ramses, leading a calf intended as a gift to the pharaoh, accompanied by women carrying vessels and baskets of bread.

Defeat of Syria and Phoenicia

By the time of Ramesses II, the military art of the Egyptians had stepped far ahead compared to the time of the slow methods of Thutmose III, who founded the "Egyptian world power" two centuries earlier. He preferred to starve the fortified cities and often, not having achieved his goal, in impotent rage devastated the surrounding gardens and fields. On the contrary, the wars of Ramesses II turned into a continuous assault on large and small fortresses. With the difficult situation in which the Egyptians found themselves in Syria-Palestine, the pharaoh could not waste time on a long siege.

A list of cities "captured by His Majesty" in Asia is preserved on the wall of the Ramesseum. Many toponyms are poorly preserved, some are still not localized. In the country of Kede, possibly located on the outskirts of Anatolia, a fortified city with a magnificent princely palace was taken. Apparently, at the same time, Acre on the Phoenician coast, Yenoam on the border with southern Lebanon, and other northern Palestinian cities were taken and plundered, are also mentioned in the Ramesseum list. Although none of the documents speak of the capture of Kadesh, but in view of the fact that Ramses made conquests far north of this city, the latter was undoubtedly captured by the Egyptians.

Ramesses also took the city of Tunip, where he erected his own statue. But when Ramesses returned to Egypt, the Hittites again occupied Tunip, and in the 10th year of his reign, Ramesses was again forced to take this city. Moreover, during this, some incident happened to him again; Ramesses, for some reason, even had to fight without armor, but information about this feat, unfortunately, is too fragmentary to accurately form an idea of ​​\u200b\u200bwhat happened to him. This event is mentioned in the text of a stele in the Nahr el-Kelb valley.

Continuation of hostilities

Apparently, during the struggle of Ramesses in Syria or somewhat later, there were some unrest in Palestine. An undated scene at Karnak depicts the subjugation of the city of Ascalon. In the 18th year, Ramesses conducted military operations in the area of ​​the city of Beit Shean. Between the 11th and 20th years of his reign, Ramesses was busy consolidating Egyptian rule in Palestine. Undated military campaigns are depicted on the walls of Luxor, Karnak and Abydos.

Among the reliefs of Luxor, a military campaign in the region of Moab is mentioned; it is also known that Ramesses fought with the Shasu tribes in the south of the Dead Sea in the region of Seir, later renamed Edom. To the east of the Lake of Gennesaret, Ramesses erected a slab to commemorate his visit to the area. The Ramesseum List mentions Beth Anat, Kanach, and Merom, cities that, by biblical tradition, are located in Galilee. The inscriptions of Ramesses claim that he conquered Naharin (the Euphrates regions), Lower Rechen (Northern Syria), Arvad, Keftiu (Cyprus Island), Katna.

However, despite the large number of victories, the “world” power of Thutmose III was not fully restored: in all endeavors, the kingdom of Hatti interfered with Ramses, being the support of the petty princes of Syria-Palestine. Ultimately, Northern Syria and even the kingdom of Amurru remained under the kingdom of Hatti. Only in the coastal strip, according to Egyptian sources, did the pharaoh's possessions reach at least as far as Simira.

Peace treaty between Egypt and the Hittites

With the death of Muwatalli, which probably took place in the 10th year of the reign of Ramesses II, the climate of relations between Egypt and Hatti became noticeably warmer. The son of Muwatalli, Urhi-Teshub, inherited the throne under the name of Mursili III, but was soon replaced by his uncle Hattusili III, who made peace with Egypt. It may be that the formation of a strong Assyrian state and the fears associated with it gradually contributed to the reconciliation of rivals.

At the beginning of the winter of the 21st year of the reign of Ramesses II, the ambassador of Hattusili, accompanied by an Egyptian translator, arrived in the capital of the pharaoh Per-Ramses and handed the Egyptian king on behalf of his sovereign a silver tablet with a cuneiform text of the treaty, certified by seals depicting the king and queen of Hatti in the arms of their deities. The treaty was translated into Egyptian and subsequently immortalized on the walls of Karnak and the Ramesseum.

The text of the treaty, which the pharaoh sent to Hattusili in exchange for his tablet, was also in cuneiform, drawn up in the then international Akkadian language. Its fragments are preserved in the Bogazkoy archive. Basically, the agreement was aimed at ensuring the mutual inviolability of possessions and providing assistance, infantry and chariots, in the event of an attack on one of the contracting parties or an uprising of subjects. Both sides pledged to hand over the defectors. It was the first diplomatically formalized treaty in world history that has survived to this day.

Whether due to the signing of this treaty or due to poor health, the period of active military campaigns of Ramesses II came to an end. The time of active diplomatic correspondence between the two countries began. Messages from Ramesses II, his family and the vizier Paser, addressed to King Hattusili III and his wife Puduhepa, were found in the Bogazkoy archive. Egyptian doctors were often sent to the Hittite court.

Marriage of Ramesses to Hittite Princesses

The consequence of the agreement, thirteen years after its signing, in the 34th year of the reign of the Egyptian pharaoh, was the marriage of Ramesses II and the eldest daughter of Hattusili, who took the Egyptian name Maathornefrura (“Seeing the beauty of the Sun”, that is, the pharaoh). The princess became not one of the minor wives of the king, as was usually the case with foreign women at the Egyptian court, but the “great” wife of the pharaoh.

The meeting of the future queen was arranged very solemnly. The princess was accompanied by her father's warriors. A lot of silver, gold and copper were carried in front of her, slaves and horses stretched "endlessly", whole herds of bulls, goats and sheep moved. From the Egyptian side, the princess was accompanied by the "royal son of Kush." The daughter of the king Hatti "was brought to his majesty, and she fell in love with his majesty." On the reliefs of the stele in Abu Simbel, which tells about this event, Hattusili III is depicted accompanying his daughter to Egypt; indeed, a letter from Ramesses II was found in the archives of Bogazkey with an offer to visit Egypt for his father-in-law, but whether such a trip was made is not known for certain. The second daughter of Hattusilis III also became the wife of Ramesses.

The exact date of this marriage is unknown, but it happened already shortly before the death of the Hittite king, approximately in the 42nd year of the reign of Ramesses II.

Expansion of world trade

Peace between Egypt and Asia has been established for more than a century, which caused an "explosion" of trade activity in the region. For many cities, such as, for example, Ugarit, this era was a time of unprecedented growth and strengthening of economic well-being. Since that time, relations between Egypt and Asia have undergone qualitative changes. If earlier the participants of the Egyptian military campaigns with booty returned to the banks of the Nile, now some of them remained to live in many Syrian-Palestinian cities. In any case, such a population was recorded under Ramesses III (XX dynasty).

Construction activity

Founding of Per Ramesses

Ramesses is characterized by an extremely wide construction activity. The war with the Hittites prompted Ramesses to move his residence to the northeastern part of the Delta, perhaps on the site of the former capital of the Hyksos, Avaris, the city of Per-Ramses was built (the full name is Pi-Ria-mase-sa-Mai-Amana, "House of Ramses, beloved by Amun). Per Ramses grew into a large and prosperous city, with a magnificent temple. Above the huge pylons of this temple towered a monolithic colossus of Ramses made of granite, more than 27 m high and weighing 900 tons. This colossus was visible for many kilometers from the flat plain surrounding the Delta.

Wadi Tumilat, through which the Nile Canal, which constituted the natural route of communication between Egypt and Asia, probably already passed east to the Bitter Lakes, was also the object of careful care on the part of Ramesses. Pharaoh built on it, halfway to the Isthmus of Suez, a "storage yard" by Pete or "House of Atum". At the western end of Wadi Tumilat, he continued the construction of the city founded by his father, known as Tel el Yehudiyeh, and located just north of Heliopolis. Ramesses built temples in Memphis, of which only meager remnants have survived; buildings in Heliopolis, of which nothing remains at all. Ramesses also built in Abydos, where he completed the magnificent temple of his father, but was not satisfied with this and erected his own mortuary temple not far from the temple of Seti. Ramesses ordered another memorial temple to be built in Thebes. This temple (the so-called Ramesseum), built by the architect Penra, was surrounded by a brick wall, inside which there were storerooms, outbuildings and dwellings for an entire army of priests and servants. Granite monolithic statue in front of the Ramesseum pylons, although it was somewhat lower than in Per-Ramesses, but weighed 1000 tons. Ramesses expanded the Luxor Temple, adding a vast courtyard and pylons there. He also completed the colossal Hypostyle Hall of the Temple of Karnak, the largest building in size, both ancient and modern. This hall covered an area of ​​5000 sq. m. Twelve columns on the sides of the middle aisle of the Hypostyle Hall were 21 m high, and together with the tops (architraves) and crossbars resting on them - 24 m. At the top of such a column, 100 people could accommodate. The remaining 126 columns, arranged in 7 rows on each side of the middle aisle, had a height of 13 m.

In Nubia, in Abu Simbel, a huge cave temple was carved into a sheer rock. The entrance to this temple, carved in the form of a pylon, was decorated with 4 twenty-meter statues of Ramesses, embodying the idea of ​​glorifying the power of the pharaoh. A cave temple dedicated to his wife, Queen Nefertari (Naft-era) was cut down nearby.

However, during the construction, Ramesses destroyed the ancient monuments of the country. So, the buildings of King Teti (VI dynasty) served as material for the temple of Ramses in Memphis. He plundered the pyramid of Senusret II at El Lahun, destroyed the paved area around it, and smashed to pieces the magnificent buildings that stood in this area in order to obtain material for his own temple in Heracleopolis. In the Delta he used the monuments of the Middle Kingdom with equal arrogance. In order to obtain the necessary space for the expansion of the Luxor Temple, Ramesses tore down the exquisite granite chapel of Thutmose III and used the materials obtained in this way.

Wars and huge funds spent on the construction and maintenance of temples ruined the working people, enriching the nobility and priests. The poor became enslaved, the middle strata gradually lost their economic independence. Ramesses had to resort to the help of mercenaries, which weakened the military potential of the country.

During his long reign, rightfully considered one of the eras of the highest flowering of Egyptian civilization, a huge number of temple complexes and monumental works of art were created, including the unique rock temples of Nubia - in Abu Simbel, Wadi es-Sebua, western Amar, Bet el-Wali, Derre, Gerf Hussein, Anibe, Kaveh, Buhene and Gebel Barkale. Even more striking in its scope is the construction program of the king in Egypt itself: several temples and the famous colossi in Memphis; the courtyard and colossal first pylon of the temple at Luxor, adorned with royal colossi and obelisks; Ramesseum - a mortuary complex on the west bank of the Nile in Thebes; temple in Abydos, completion of construction and decoration of the grandiose hypostyle hall of the temple of Amun-Ra in Karnak. In addition, the monuments of Ramses II are recorded in Edfu, Armant, Akhmim, Heliopolis, Bubastis, Athribis, Herakleopolis. Under Ramesses II, part of the temple of the goddess Hathor was built at Serabit el-Khadim in Sinai. As a result, Ramesses II built many statues and temples in his honor in various parts of Egypt. The largest to date are four 20-meter statues of a seated Ramesses II in Abu Simbel in the south of the country.

Family

Wives and children of Ramesses

On the front wall of the temple of Abydos, images and partly the names of 119 children of Ramesses (59 sons and 60 daughters) have been preserved, which suggest a large number of concubines, in addition to the legal wives known to us, and according to some estimates - 111 sons and 67 daughters.

The first main wife of Ramesses II was the famous beauty Nefertari Merenmut, to whom the small temple in Abu Simbel was dedicated; after the premature death of the queen, buried in a uniquely beautiful tomb in the Valley of the Queens (QV66), her eldest daughter, Princess Meritamon, took her place. Among the other wives of the king, the most famous are queens Isitnofret I, her daughter Bent-Anat, as well as queens Nebettawi and Khenutmir.

In the northeast of the Nile Delta, where his family came from, Ramesses II founded a new capital, Per-Ramses (modern Kantir and Tell ed-Daba), on the site of the old palace of his father Seti I. This city remained the main residence of the kings of the XIX-XX dynasties. Nevertheless, the religious capital of the country remained in Thebes, and royal burials were still carved in the rocks of the Valley of the Kings. The tomb of Ramesses II (KV7) was not completed and is currently in extremely poor condition due to the damaging effects of groundwater and rainstorms; his mummy remained there for an extremely short time due to ancient grave robbers.

In the reign of Ramesses II, the cults of Amun, Ra, Ptah and Set enjoyed special reverence; however, it was at this time that Asian influence became more and more noticeable in the religious life of the country, expressed in the inclusion in the Egyptian pantheon of foreign deities associated with war or the sea element hostile to the Egyptians.

In the last years of his reign, Ramesses II was deified as the "Great Soul of Ra-Khorakhte", thus declaring himself the incarnation of the sun god on earth. Ramesses II died in the 67th year of his reign and survived twelve of his sons, among whom two - the commander Amenherkhepeshef and Khaemuas, the high priest of the god Ptah in Memphis, bore the title of heir to the throne for a particularly long time. The Egyptian throne was inherited by the thirteenth son of the king - Merneptah, the son of Queen Isitnofret I, by this time - a middle-aged man. He was the first of several successors of Ramesses II, whose brief reigns ended the 19th dynasty.

A millennium after the reign of Ramesses II, his cult flourished in Memphis and Abydos. The legacy of the image of the king and his sons in ancient Egyptian and ancient tales and legends has become very indicative. In Thebes around 300 BC. e. to maintain the authority of their temple, the priests of the god Khonsu even erected a massive stele in the sanctuary of the god, the text of which, telling about the journey of the healing statue of the god Khonsu to the country of Bakhtan, was inspired by the Asian campaigns of Ramses II and his wedding with the Hittite princesses.

Children

Among them:
From Isitnofret. Sons: elder Ramesses (prince), Khaemwas, Merneptah. Daughters: Bent-Anat.
From Nefertari. Sons: Amenherkhepeshef, Paracherunemef, Merira, Meriatum. Daughters: Meritamon, Khenuttawi.

When counting, it turns out that of the 16 eldest sons of Ramses II, seven were born to Nefertari and Isitnofret, while the mothers of the remaining nine sons are unknown. Of the nine senior princesses, only three were the daughters of the two main wives, while the remaining six, and then all subsequent children of the king, were born by unknown concubines.

posthumous fate

The body of Ramesses in ancient times was buried by the priests five times (four were reburied) - because of grave robbers. First, he was transferred from his own tomb to the tomb of his father Seti I. She was robbed. Then the mummy was reburied in the tomb of Queen Imhapi. She was also robbed. Then they transferred it to the tomb of Pharaoh Amenhotep I.

Finally, in the end, the mummy of Ramesses with the mummies of other robbed pharaohs (Thutmose III, Ramses III) was hidden by the priests in the rocky cache of Herihor in modern Deir el-Bahri.

In the second half of the 19th century, this cache was discovered by an Arab family of grave robbers, led by Sheikh Abd al-Rasul, who gradually sold valuables from there to European tourists. This attracted the attention of the Egyptian authorities. The Egyptian Antiquities Service conducted a whole special operation to identify the source of income, and as a result, the sheikh was forced to reveal the location of the underground rock cache Deir el-Bahri 320, built by order of King Herihor in the 11th century BC.

As a result, the well-preserved mummy of the pharaoh was discovered there in 1881 among other robbed royal bodies and became available to science.

In September 1975, the mummy of Ramesses II was subjected to a unique process of general conservation at the Institute of Man in Paris.

In September 2008, during excavations in the Ain Shams area in eastern Cairo, a group of Egyptian archaeologists discovered the ruins of the temple of Pharaoh Ramesses II, and fragments of a giant statue of Ramesses II were also found in the area.

Other facts

In 1974, Egyptologists discovered that the mummy of Pharaoh Ramesses II was rapidly deteriorating. It was decided to immediately take her by plane to France for examination and restoration, for which the mummies issued a modern Egyptian passport, and in the column "occupation" they wrote "king (deceased)". At the Paris airport, the mummy was met with all military honors due to the visit of the head of state. [source not specified 942 days]
The discovery of a fragment of one of the statues of Ramesses with an inscription inspired Percy Shelley to write the poem "Ozymandias" (1817).
Presumably, Ramesses the Great was left-handed and red-haired.
Presumably, Ramesses II was born on February 22, and ascended the throne on October 20. In the temple of Abu Simbel these days the light falls on the chest and crown of his statue. The fact is debatable, since Abu Simbel was transferred.
Perhaps Ramses II ruled during the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. [source not specified 531 days]
The height of Ramesses II was 180 cm. Interestingly, against the background of the Egyptians of that time (average height is about 160 cm), Ramesses II must have seemed very tall. Some sources mistakenly indicate even 210 cm.

Ramses II in culture

The sarcophagus of Ramses II can be seen in the 12th issue of "Well, you wait!".
Ramses II is one of the main characters in the cartoon The Prince of Egypt.
Ramses II is present in the game Sid Meier's Civilization and in subsequent parts of this series as the leader of the civilization of Egypt.
Ramses II is the main antagonist of Exodus: Gods and Kings.

Among the kings and rulers of the ancient world, several of the greatest figures stand out, surpassing human limits in their scale and considered worthy of demigods. One of the most famous rulers who showed divine power in himself was Ramses II or Great.

Ramses II was worshiped as a god. And he, in fact, immortalized himself in hundreds of grandiose monuments created during the years of his reign.

Ramses II was one of the greatest pharaohs of ancient Egypt who ruled during the 19th dynasty. He was proclaimed "Ramses the Great" for the successful and long rule of the state. His reign covers a period of more than 90 years. His achievements surpassed in scale all the results of previous generations and those who inherited power.

Ramses II. The beginning of the reign

In 1303-1290 BC. e. - co-ruler of his father Seti I. Having ascended the throne in 1290 BC. e., completely subjugated the priests of Thebes, placing his protege at the head of them. In the first years of his sole rule, he defeated the Libyans and Sherdans (one of the so-called "peoples of the sea"), who became a serious threat to Egypt at the end of the 13th century. BC e.). The central event of the reign of Ramesses II is the struggle between Egypt and the Hittite kingdom for dominance in the Middle East.

The divine origin of the pharaoh

Ramesses II understood that he could count on the strength of the dynasty only if he himself gave it divine greatness. “I trace my descent from Pa,” says his speech to the high priests and courtiers, which he ordered to be carved on a stone in his father’s tomb. “The Almighty Himself gave me life and greatness. It was he who gave me the circle of the earth when I was still in my mother's womb.
Pharaoh Seti ordered to build a funeral temple for himself in Abydos. When, after the funeral, Ramesses visited Abydos, he found that the temple had not been completed and had already begun to collapse somewhere. The impression made on him by this spectacle can be judged from the inscription, which, among other things, contains a whole program of construction and public policy:

“Shouldn’t the son who succeeded his father renew the monuments erected to him? the caption asks. “I have erected a new statue of gold for my father. I ordered the restoration of his temple. Raise your face, turn your gaze to the Sun God, O my father Seti, you who are now one of the gods. Look, I have loved your name, I protect you, for I appeared to the peoples in the form of the Sun-God.

So Ramesses used the temple of Seti I to promote his divine essence. With the same purpose, he sought the deification of other members of his family.

At one time, Seti, taking care of the future of the dynasty, personally chose three wives and several concubines for his son. Ramesses' favorite wife was Nefertari. No other queen is celebrated so often in inscriptions. When Ramesses gave an audience or showed himself to the people from the balcony of the palace, Nefertari was almost invariably next to him.

Drawings and reliefs depict her as a slender beauty. She is “the favorite of the goddess Mut”, “the great wife of the king”, “the mother of God”; in addition to these official names, there are others that are more personal and tender. Ramesses calls her "beautiful mistress", "beautiful-faced", his "sweet love".

Hittite Wars, Battle of Kadesh

Around 1286 B.C. e. Ramesses II makes a trip to Phoenicia and around 1285 BC. e. starts a war with the aim of capturing the city of Kadesh in the valley of the river. Orontes and adjacent regions of Central Syria. The retreat of the Hittite king Muwatallis, whose main forces were concentrated directly near Kadesh, to Aleppo (modern Aleppo) misleads the Egyptians - on the outskirts of the city, the troops of Ramesses II were struck by a sudden blow of the Hittite chariots. In a two-day battle, the Egyptians were saved from destruction only by the personal courage of the pharaoh and the reinforcements that came up; thus, Kadesh was not taken, and as a result, the powers concluded a truce, after which Ramesses II retreated to Egypt. In fact, the campaign of 1285 BC. e. ended in the defeat of the Egyptians, since none of its tasks was solved.

In 1283 BC. e. the war resumes: Ramesses II manages to take the city of Dapur in southern Syria and a number of Palestinian cities. In 1280 BC. e. the pharaoh fights in Phoenicia and northern Syria; in 1279-70 BC. e. strengthens the power of Egypt over Palestine and the territory beyond the Jordan (the biblical regions of Edom and Moab). Around 1272 B.C. e. Ramesses II is fighting in Northern Palestine, where he is building a powerful fortress in the area of ​​Bet Shean. The wars of Ramses II were fought with varying success, Egypt then returned the territories under its rule, then again lost it. Ramesses II was unable to defeat the Hittite state, which was the inspirer of the struggle of the small states of Syria-Palestine against Egypt.

Peace with the Hittites

About 1269 B.C. e. At the initiative of the Hittite king Hattusili III, Egypt and the Hittites made peace. For Egypt, the rights to Palestine, most of Phenicia and a smaller part of Southern Syria were recognized; all territories to the north of them were considered the sphere of influence of the Hittites. The parties agreed on non-aggression, military alliance, mutual extradition of criminals and defectors. The treaty, known in Egyptian and cuneiform (in Akkadian) versions, the oldest known peace treaty, in 1256 BC. e. it was secured by the marriage of the already middle-aged Ramesses II and the Hittite princess. By this time, the Hittites themselves are striving to normalize relations with Egypt, fearing the threat from Assyria in the east and the migrating peoples of the Caucasus and Asia Minor in the north and west.

Transfer of the capital

Under Ramesses II, peaceful ties with the Middle East were developing, the center of which was the newly built in the east of the Nile Delta a new capital - the city of Tanis, called Per-Ramses (ancient Egyptian "House of Ramses"), with Asian quarters and temples of the gods. Ramses II continues the policy begun by Akhenaten of opposing the north of the country to Thebes with their influential priesthood: the political and economic center of Egypt under him is the Nile Delta, but Memphis, the capital of his predecessors, also plays a significant role.

Under Ramses II, construction is underway in the temples of Amun in Thebes and Osiris in Abydos; the grandiose memorial complex Ramesseum is being built on the western bank of the Nile opposite Thebes. In Nubia, which, under Ramesses II, is firmly subordinate to Egypt, temples are being built in his honor. The most famous among them is the rock temple in Abu Simbel.

The name Ramses was worn by many pharaohs of the XIX and XX dynasties, it means "Ra gave birth to him" (Ra-Mess). Ramses II was the grandson of the founder of the dynasty, Ramses I, and the son of Seti I. Having ascended the royal throne in 1279 BC, he proclaimed himself "the son of the sun god Ra, a god incarnated in man." It is interesting that, having become the son of Amon-Ra, he did not cease to be the son of the Set. Ramses II ruled for about 67 years and died a very old man, leaving behind more than 90 sons and daughters.

https://youtu.be/v8QCtnUvd7Y

http://www.ice-nut.ru/egypt/egypt024.htm

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