How long did ramses ii live

Ramses II led his forces to recapture Kadesh, but he was duped by spies into thinking the Hittites were far from the Egyptian camp. Instead, they were lying in wait nearby and attacked.

The Egyptians were on the brink of defeat when reinforcements arrived just in the nick of time. Ramses II won that battle but he did not win the war. On temple walls across Egypt, he ordered the creation of murals depicting him single-handedly defeating the aggressors.

In reality, after years of negotiation, Ramses II eventually signed a peace treaty with the Hittites. It was the earliest peace accord whose text has survived. Among its articles, both sides agreed to extradite refugees and not exact retribution after their return. Further, they agreed to aid one another if attacked by foreign or domestic enemies. One copy of the treaty, in hieroglyphics, was carved on a stela in the temple of Karnak. A second copy, written in Akkadian on a clay tablet, was discovered in Turkey in The significance of this peace treaty is reflected in the fact that a replica of the tablet is on display at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

As a sign of diplomatic good faith, Ramses II married the eldest daughter of the Hittite king. She joined him, Nefertari his chief queen , and his enormous family—he sired more than a hundred children—at his new capital, Per Ramessu, aptly, though audaciously, named after himself.

See inside the wedding of Ramses II and the Hittite princess. His funerary temple, the Ramesseum, contained a massive library of some 10, papyrus scrolls. He honored both his father and himself by completing temples at Abydos. Read why the mummy of Ramses II was issued a modern passport. Ramses II wanted there to be absolutely no question which pharaoh had built the magnificent temple at Abu Simbel.

At its entrance, four plus-foot-tall seated statues of him serve as sentries. Dedicated to the sun gods, the temple extends feet into its cliff via a series of three towering halls. Scenes depict Ramses II at the Battle of Kadesh as well as the pharaoh and his principal wife, Nefertari, making offerings to the sun gods.

Ramses ordered a second, smaller temple built nearby for Nefertari. Because of its remote location, Abu Simbel went undiscovered until In , when the construction of the Aswan High Dam threatened to flood the site, UNESCO embarked on an unprecedented, year rescue effort that relocated both Abu Simbel temples—stone by stone—to higher ground some feet farther up the cliff.

Hawass replied that studies over the past years have been conducted by foreigners, who unfortunately took parts of the different mummies while studying. The veteran Egyptian archeologist Hawass also explained that each royal mummy will be displayed with all its personal belongings, and evidence or data about the profession of the owner of the mummy, and the results of DNA tests and CT scans, which determine the cause of death.

According to Hawass, Ramses V was sick with smallpox. In the 30th years of his reign, Ramses was ritually transformed into an Egyptian god. Upon being declared a god , Ramses established the new capital city, Pi-Ramesses, in the Nile Delta and used it as the main base for his campaigns in Syria.

Ramses erected more colossal statues of himself than any other pharaoh. He was also fascinated with architecture, building extensively throughout Egypt and Nubia. His reign saw a great number of architectural achievements, and the building and reconstructing of many temples, monuments and structures. Those included the gigantic temples of Abu Simbel, a rock monument to himself and his queen Nefertari and the Ramesseum, his mortuary temple. Both temples featured giant statues of Ramses himself.

During the 8th and 9th years of his reign, Ramses led more military campaigns against the Hittites, successfully capturing Dapur and Tunip. Skirmishes with the Hittites continued over these two cities until BC, when an official peace treaty was established between the Egyptian pharaoh and Hattusili III, the then king of the Hittites.

It is not known the exact number of children Ramses had in his lifetime, however the rough estimate is around 96 sons and 60 daughters. Rameses had more than wives and concubines, however his favourite queen was most likely Nefertari.

Queen Nefertari who went on to rule with her husband, and was referred to as the Royal Wife of the Pharaoh. She is thought to have died relatively early in his reign. Her tomb QV66 is the most beautiful in the Valley of the Queens, containing wall paintings regarded as some of the greatest works of ancient Egyptian art.