Ramses II

Ramses II was the most important king of Egypt and was responsible for most of the buildings throughout Egypt. He co-ruled with his father “Seti I “and then ruled alone after his father’s death. He ruled for 67 years and had around 200 children. He was responsible for the first peace treaty in the world with the Hittite Kingdom (Mesopotamia). During his battles with the Hittites, he divided his army into four divisions and he was fighting in the heart of these divisions. When his division was defeated, he personally fought the enemies and recorded this on all his temples, especially the Temple of Karnak, the Hypostyle Hall at Karnak, the Temple of Abydos, and his most famous temple in Abu Simbel. His most important building is his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, although his mummy was not found there but, in Al Deir, el-Bahri cache in 1871. He built the greatest Egyptian temples in Abu Simbel (the two temples of Abu Simbel) for himself and his beautiful wife “Nefertari”, whom he loved more than all his wives. He wrote on her temple the immortal words: “I built this temple for the woman for whom the sun rises.” In front of his great temple in Abu Simbel, we find the text of the oldest peace treaty in the world, around 1200 BC, which is a peace agreement between Ramses II and King “Khattusilis” of the Hittite Kingdom, in which they agreed that everything north of the Euphrates River (Turkey and Iraq) would belong to the Hittite Kingdom, and everything south and west of it (Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine) would belong to Egypt. They also agreed that Ramses II would marry the daughter of King Khattusilis, whose name was “Kiluhipa”, who came with many gifts, the most important of which were 300 maidservants, all beautiful women from Turkey and Syria. Despite having many wives and children, he carried out many constructions, most importantly completing the Temple of Karnak, completing the Temple of Abydos, the Great Hypostyle Hall at the Temple of Karnak, and building the two eternal temples in Abu Simbel. He also built a temple for his beloved wife Nefertari in Abu Simbel and the most beautiful tomb in the Valley of the Queens. After the death of his beloved wife Nefertari, he married their beautiful daughter “Merit Amon”. His favorite son was Prince “Khaemwaset”, who died during his father’s lifetime and was buried in a tomb in the Valley of the Queens. He was succeeded by his son King “Merneptah”.