was the greatest ruler of Egypt, ruling for over 60 years until his death aged over 90 years old. Ramses inherited the throne in 1279BC. At the time Egypt was in a long drawn out war with the Hittites of Anatolia (now modern day Turkey).
One of his first acts as Kings was to lead his army into battle at the Battle of Kadesh in 1274. It was however, a partial phyrric victory as, although he won, he failed to secure the town of Kadesh. Later he won more victories against the Hittities, taking towns as far north as in Syria. However, Ramses was aware of how stretched his army was. He knew it would be impossible to hold onto these vast territories so he sought to negotiate a peace treaty. This peace treaty was one of the first recorded peace treaties. It went beyond a mere cessation of hostilities but, made the Egyptian and Hittities allies; in which they promised to defend each other from attack. This peace treaty with their most powerful rival was instrumental in creating a long period of stability and abscence of conflict.
In the abscence of costly wars to fight, Ramses could concentrate on his desire to build extensive memorials and impressive buildings leaving people stunned at the power and majesty of Egypt.
These buildings included
The Great Temple at Abu Simbel.
The Ramesseum a vast temple complex near Kurna
Completed temple at Abydos
He built many statues of himself, some of these stood over 20 metres high dominating the landscape.
Nefetari - Wife of Ramses The Great
As was typical of Egyptian Kings, Ramses had several wives, but, his favourite was Nefetari. Unlike many Egyptian marriages of the time, Nefetari was not a relative, but a genuine love match. The tomb of Nefetari is one of the most impressive in the whole Valley of the Queens.
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