Pharaoh Ramses II

Archaeology > Egypt
Architecture > Ancient
History > Leaders
History > Middle Eastern

Pharaoh Ramses II

This paper describes the extraordinary reign of Pharaoh Ramses II of Egypt (c.1279-1212 BC), also known as Ramses the Great.

2,040 words () | 10 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Pharaoh Ramses II was a powerful ruler, a successful diplomat, a masterful publicist and prolific builder. The author points out that Ramses II, whose throne name was "Usi-ma-re Setepenre" ("Strong in right is Re, Chosen of Re"), was the third Egyptian pharaoh of the nineteenth dynasty. The paper includes a section of "Epic Poem of Pentaur" in which Ramses II describes the battle as a personal triumph under insurmountable odds against the Hittites. The author describes Ramesseum, a mortuary temple in Thebes, built by Ramses II as a memorial to praise forever his military and diplomatic achievements, and Pi-Ramses, modern Qantir, the great capital city. The paper relates that one of the major discoveries in Pi-Ramses occurred in the early twenty-first century when archaeologists unearthed a glass making workshop.

From the Paper:

"Ramses II set out to recapture Kadesh, a strategically located city in Syria. Ramses II took his troops into the area of Kadesh. While traveling toward the city, he and his first two military divisions became separated from the remaining two divisions that lingered behind him. Two men who had met up with the Egyptian army provided intentionally false information to the Egyptians as to the location of the Hittite army. Believing that the Hittite troops were farther off than their actual location (while waiting for his remaining divisions to arrive) he moved his troops near the city and began to set up camp."

Sample of Sources Used:

Breasted, James Henry. Ancient Records of Egypt: Historical Documents from the Earliest Times to the Persian Conquest: The Nineteenth Dynasty V3. Whitefish: Kessinger Publishing LLC, 2006
By the Editors of Time Life Books. Ramses II: Magnificence on the Nile. Alexandria: Time Life Books, 1993
David, Rosalie. Handbook to Life in Ancient Egypt. New York: Facts On File Inc, 1998
Freeman, Charles. The Legacy of Ancient Egypt. Oxfordshire: Andromeda Oxford Ltd, 1997
Halsall, Paul ed., Internet History Sourcebooks Project: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook Project, Ancient History Sourcebook: "Pen-ta-ur: The Victory of Ramses II Over the Khita, 1326 BCE." Fordham University. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/1326khita.html (accessed April 15, 2008)