Ramesses: a study of Egypt's greatest pharaohs

Ramesses II was known as the greatest Egyptian pharaoh of the New Kingdom. His reputation has mostly escalated as part of his own propaganda, with a myriad of written texts commissioned by him to depict his greatness. During his rule, Ramesses II presided over an era of unprecedented wealth and peace in Egypt that lasted for nearly six decades. As a general he fought alongside his father SETI in battles against the Hitties, Syrians and the Sherden pirates. As a sovereign, he built some of the world's foremost temples and monuments in almost every corner of the empire. However, due to his own propaganda and time itself, the majority of his accomplishments are now buried within hyperbole and confusion. The purpose of Joyce Tyldesley's book "Ramsses: Egypt's Greatest Pharaoh, is to clarify the position of Ramesses as Pharaoh and begin to slowly piece together his actual life. Tyldesley makes the point that Ramesses needs to be judged not by our standards but by the standards of his own culture and time period. Through a combination of strong archeological evidence and historical findings, she carefully pieces together his life by sifting through the myriad myths to find the real truth about Ramesses' life and culture.

Ramesses were the son of Seti I, the Pharaoh immediately preceding him, and Queen Tuya. He served as the third Pharaoh of Egypt in the 19th Dynasty or the "New Kingdom." Ramesses became so well-known and loved among his people that he reached the status of deity and was known throughout Egypt as Ramesses the Great. Tyldesley opens the book with an overview Ramesses himself, showing the scope of his entire life. She explains that he lived to be ninety six years old, almost unprecedented given the living conditions and tumult of that era. Throughout his lifetime he had 200 wives, 96 sons, and 60 daughters. Although these figures may be more myth than fact, Tyldesley shows through her research that they could be realistic figures based upon archaeological discoveries. His chief wife was the famous Nefertari, who is often depicted within Egyptian sculpture and artwork as one of the most beautiful queens of Egypt. The legacy of Ramesses expands on a vertical level, it seems that after every year of his reign his legacy grows and the more myths appear that confuses the reality of his accomplishments.

Ramesses was not the first son of Seti, in fact he is believed not to have been the son of his primary wives, and thus he was never trained to be a Pharaoh "from the egg." The result, Tyldesley believes, of his unusual style of governance that deviated from traditional kingship within Egypt. As the son of Seti and heir apparent, he ruled as co-regent alongside Seti for some years before his death. During this time, Ramesses accompanied his father on many military campaigns to extend the territory of Egypt and to conquer invaders. Two of his specific rivals existed in present day Libya and Nubia. The principle enemy of Egypt at the time of Ramesses rule was the Hitties, they occupied the territory of now Libya and much of modern Israel. The Hitties had been the sworn enemy of Egypt for nearly a century, with conflict being almost inevitable between the two sides. Seti as king, was able to conquer much of Hitties' territory, gaining control of almost all of Palestine during his kingship. Ramsses, as a young child, also had the opportunity to fight his enemy within various campaigns. He made serious advances against Syria that reached Kadesh by the end of his campaign. Ramesses' legacy begins with one of the most famous battles in Egyptian history, it lasted nearly four days and almost resulted in the defeat of his entire army. Despite being outnumbered and often outmaneuvered by the Hitties, he turned defeat into victory and overcame one of the largest Hittie armies of that century. From this historic battle, Ramesses would gain the knowledge and the confidence to later create the most lasting and prescient decision of his reign. He believed following this battle that the resources of Egypt would be better served if the conflict with the Hitties were to be ended permanently. Tyldesley argues that Ramesses noted the pattern of warfare between the two kingdoms and that territorial expansion within Hittie territory only lasted for no more than half a century. As a result, he made the wise move by beginning to build relationships with the Hittite kingdom. When Hattusili III usurped the throne from the legitimate prince, he offered the prince of the Hittites asylum within Egypt. Through slowly creating relationships, and the pressure of other rising empires during this time, both the Hittites and the Egyptians agreed to negotiate a historic peace treaty. After two years of negotiation, a peace treaty was concluded during the 21st year of Ramesses' reign in 1280 B.C.

The importance of this peace treaty cannot be understated because it was the pivotal step in establishing the peace and prosperity that Ramesses experienced. Not only was this the first peace treaty in the history of Egypt, but it gave significant prerogative to the Egyptians. With their agreement, Ramesses agreed to end his quest to restore Kadesh and Amuru within the Egyptian empire, in return they created clear lines of demarcation between Egyptian and Syrian territories. Not only did this peace agreement allow for continuing trade between the two nations, which ultimately resulted into one of the most fruitful partnerships of the ancient era, it also gave Egyptians free access to the passages to the North as far as the Ugarit. Tyldesley shows us the two surviving documentation of the event, one copy exists in hieroglyph and was found in Egypt, while the other was inscribed in Akaddian and was found in Syria. This prescient treaty was the beginning of Ramesses' legacy as the greatest of the Egyptian pharaohs.

Not only did Ramesses make one of the most important peace treaties of the ancient era that concluded a two hundred year old conflict, he also had the fortune of presiding over a time of great prosperity within Egypt. During his reign there was almost optimal Nile flooding which resulted in strong harvests for almost three decades. The combination of his peace treaty and his political relationships with other empires such as Babylon, Ramesses created a near perfect political stability on an international level. By restoring international stability he was able to enjoy the privilege of having a large family and expanded his empire through trade rather than warfare. All of this caused Ramesses to become one of the longest living Pharaohs within Egyptian history. His ninety six odd years allowed him to outlive many of children and even his grandchildren. Through this period, Egypt enjoyed a continuity of government that was the envy of the ancient world.

Within his lifetime, Ramessess II became venerated as a god with a strong cult following within particular Egyptian regions, particularly within Nubia. The cultic worship of Ramesses as a god outlasted even after the last of Egypt's pharaohs. Unlike many of the Egyptian kings who sought to have their names remembered and repeated through immortalized tomes, Ramesses gained fame through the respect of his people, even following his death thousands would make pilgrimages to Abydos, Memphis, Tanis and Abu Simble, sites of his primary temples to give offerings to Ramesses the deity for centuries following his death.

Ramesses however, was neither a perfect king nor a perfect human being. Tyldesley argues that Ramesses had a particular interest in the longevity of his legacy and wanted to aggrandize him as much as possible. His vanity is evident in much of his exploits as he attempts to paint himself within the annals of history as a God. Although it is popular within Egyptian culture to view the pharaoh as a semi-deity, Ramesses felt the need to prove to his people that he was indeed a God because of his red hair. During that particular time, red hair was extremely rare and he became associated with the god Seth, who represented confusion and disorder. Ramesses took great care to spread his name throughout the empire, Tyldesley argues that Ramesses would obsessed with self-aggrandizement and preserving the immortality of his legacy. One of the methods that Ramesses used to promote himself among his people was through battle inscriptions found on the walls of temples. The author argues that the majority of these inscriptions became severe embellishments of his accomplishment. He created inscriptions not only of his most famous battle, the battle of Kadesh, he also expounded upon minor conflicts with the Nubians, Libyans and the Asiatics. His exaggeration of his own accomplishments however, viewed in the context of his culture is nothing extraordinary. Many of the pharaohs attempted to deify themselves through inscription. Tyldesley argues that Ramesses may very well have engaged in these campaigns out of forced cultural duties rather than real desire to enshrine him within history. The results of these attempts for immortality also resulted in some of the most famous Egyptian monuments in his illustrious history. Ramesses exerted significant effort to build monuments and grand statues within various parts of the empire. Tyldesley explains that these statues fulfilled a personal purpose of allowing the soul to survive eternally within the Kingdom of Osiris.