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Pharaoh Ramesses I of Egypt
- 1292 BC —Coronation of Pharaoh Ramesses I of Egypt marks the end of the Eighteenth Dynsasty and start of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt.
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[1] c. 1294 BC –Egyptian–Hittite Wars. [2] 1292 BC —Coronation of Pharaoh Ramesses I of Egypt marks the end of the Eighteenth Dynsasty and start of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. [3] Significant people. Ramesses I, Egyptian pharaoh, crowned. Shalmaneser I, king of Assyria, born (approximate date).
- Overview
- Background and early years of reign
- Military exploits
Ramses II was the third pharaoh of ancient Egypt’s 19th dynasty, reigning from 1279 to 1213 BCE. He likely began exercising some power prior to actually assuming sole ownership of the throne: it is thought that his father, Seti I, appointed him as coregent at a young age, and he accompanied his father on campaigns abroad as a teenager. His tenure as sole ruler was remarkable insofar as he ruled for an astonishing 66 years—the second longest (and maybe even the longest) reign in ancient Egyptian history.
Read more below: Background and early years of reign
Seti I
Read more about Seti I.
What military campaigns did Ramses II undertake?
The most important campaign of Ramses II’s reign culminated in the famous Battle of Kadesh. Ramses II set out in his fourth year as king to reestablish Egypt’s imperial holdings in Asia, much of which had been lost to the Hittites. Hittite and Egyptian forces met at Kadesh, a Hittite stronghold in Syria. The battle initially looked to be a rout of Egyptian forces, but the timely arrival of Egyptian reinforcements resulted in a stalemate. Egypt continued to campaign in Hittite territory for the next 16 years, until the two empires signed the first peace treaty in recorded history.
Ramses’ family, of nonroyal origin, came to power some decades after the reign of the religious reformer Akhenaton (Amenhotep IV, 1353–36 bce) and set about restoring Egyptian power in Asia, which had declined under Akhenaton and his successor, Tutankhamen. Ramses’ father, Seti I, subdued a number of rebellious princes in Palestine and southern Syria and waged war on the Hittites of Anatolia in order to recover those provinces in the north that during the recent troubles had passed from Egyptian to Hittite control. Seti achieved some success against the Hittites at first, but his gains were only temporary, for at the end of his reign the enemy was firmly established on the Orontes River at Kadesh, a strong fortress defended by the river, which became the key to their southern frontier.
During his reign Seti gave the crown prince Ramses, the future Ramses II, a special status as regent. Seti provided him with a kingly household and harem, and the young prince accompanied his father on his campaigns, so that when he came to sole rule he already had experience of kingship and of war. It is noteworthy that Ramses was designated as successor at an unusually young age, as if to ensure that he would in fact succeed to the throne. He ranked as a captain of the army while still only 10 years old; at that age his rank must surely have been honorific, though he may well have been receiving military training.
Because his family’s home was in the Nile River delta, and in order to have a convenient base for campaigns in Asia, Ramses built for himself a full-scale residence city called Per Ramessu (“House of Ramses”; biblical Raamses), which was famous for its beautiful layout, with gardens, orchards, and pleasant waters. Each of its four quarters had its own presiding deity: Amon in the west, Seth in the south, the royal cobra goddess, Wadjet, in the north, and, significantly, the Syrian goddess Astarte in the east. A vogue for Asian deities had grown up in Egypt, and Ramses himself had distinct leanings in that direction.
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The first public act of Ramses after his accession to sole rule was to visit Thebes, the southern capital, for the great religious festival of Opet, when the god Amon of Karnak made a state visit in his ceremonial barge to the Temple of Luxor. When returning to his home in the north, the king broke his journey at Abydos to worship Osiris and to arrange for the resumption of work on the great temple founded there by his father, which had been interrupted by the old king’s death. He also took the opportunity to appoint as the new high priest of Amon at Thebes a man named Nebwenenef, high priest of Anhur at nearby This (Thinis).
It seems that, apart from his extensive building activities and his famous residence city, Ramses’ reputation as a great king in the eyes of his subjects rested largely on his fame as a soldier.
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In the fourth year of his reign, he led an army north to recover the lost provinces his father had been unable to conquer permanently. The first expedition was to subdue rebellious local dynasts in southern Syria, to ensure a secure springboard for further advances. He halted at Al-Kalb River near Beirut, where he set up an inscription to record the events of the campaign; today nothing remains of it except his name and the date; all the rest has weathered away.
The next year the main expedition set out. Its objective was the Hittite stronghold at Kadesh. Following the coastal road through Palestine and Lebanon, the army halted on reaching the south of the land of Amor, perhaps in the neighbourhood of Tripolis. Here Ramses detached a special task force, the duty of which seems to have been to secure the seaport of Simyra and thence to march up the valley of the Eleutherus River (Al-Nahr Al-Kabīr) to rejoin the main army at Kadesh. The main force then resumed its march to the Orontes, the army being organized in four divisions of chariotry and infantry, each consisting of perhaps 5,000 men.
Crossing the river from east to west at the ford of Shabtuna, about 8 miles (13 km) from Kadesh, the army passed through a wood to emerge on the plain in front of the city. Two captured Hittite spies gave Ramses the false information that the main Hittite army was at Aleppo, some distance to the north, so that it appeared to the king as if he had only the garrison of Kadesh to deal with. It was not until the army had begun to arrive at the camping site before Kadesh that Ramses learned that the main Hittite army was in fact concealed behind the city. Ramses at once sent off messengers to hasten the remainder of his forces, but, before any further action could be taken, the Hittites struck with a force of 2,500 chariots, with three men to a chariot as against the Egyptian two. The leading Egyptian divisions, taken entirely by surprise, broke and fled in disorder, leaving Ramses and his small corps of household chariotry entirely surrounded by the enemy and fighting desperately.
Jul 6, 2020 · King Ramses II one of the greatest pharaohs who ruled Egypt, also Known as Ramesses II or Sese also called Ramesses The Great, he was the third king of the 19th dynasty (1292-1186 BCE), he was born in 1303 BC to his father the Pharaoh Sethi I and his mother Queen Tuya.
Before the invasion of Scotland by Edward I of England that saw the stone moved to London, John de Balliol was the last Scottish king to be crowned on it four years before in 1292. Edward I built a special throne at Westminster Abbey in 1307, known as the Coronation Chair.
Feb 19, 2024 · Ramses I came to power in 1292 BC. He had only one son named Seti I, so he made him the crown prince. Ramses I ruled for two years, a very short reign that did not allow him to leave any legacy other than some brief development in Karnak Temple .
Coronations of Scottish kings took place at Moot Hill at Scone Palace. John Balliol was the last Scottish king to be crowned on the Stone at Scone in 1292; he was defeated four years later by Edward I. Today there is now only a replica of the stone at Scone.
Jun 8, 2018 · Ramses the Great name given to Ramses II (died c.1225 bc), Egyptian pharaoh, reigned c.1292–c.1225bc. The third pharaoh of the 19th dynasty, he built vast monuments and statues, including the two rock temples at Abu Simbel.
