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Ramses was a famous pharaoh who reigned from about 1290 -1224 BC. Ramses came to the throne at an early age. He served as co-ruler with his father for a short time before he began his own long reign.
Ramses the Great ascended to the throne at the age of 25. The son of Seti 1 and Queen Tuya he was the third king of the 19th Dynasty. In his 67-year reign he undertook an unparalleled building program. No other pharaoh built so many temples or erected so many colossal obelisks and statues. It seems that everything was done on a grand scale.
During the early part of his reign, Ramses tried to end Hittite control of Syria. About 1285 BC. He fought a battle against the Hittites at Kadesh and claimed a great victory. But about 1269 BC. Ramses made a treaty with the Hittite king, which divided Syria between them.
Ramses devoted a vast number of buildings like the new capital in the Nile delta. He finished the columned great hall in the temple of Amon-re at Karnak. At Abu Simbel he built the rock temple and took credit for many of his ancestor's buildings.
Ramses tomb was in the Valley of Kings. He had 60 children with his wives and mistresses including Nefertari, who was his most loved wife.
After years of war the Hittites made peace with Egyptians, and in 1270b.C, a Hittite princess married Ramses. They also signed a treaty -the first international treaty for with we have the terms. About 70 years later, the Hittite empire was wiped out by new invaders called the sea people, who probably came from the Mediterranean islands. They brought their families with them to look for new homes. Some Hittite refuges escaped to the south until the Assyrians conquered it.


Two of Ramses II's projects, on the west bank of the Nile that cut deep into the cliffs at Abu Simbel, are perhaps the most famous. These temples, considered Ramses' greatest achievements, were erected in honor of Egypt's major gods and their local variants. After ordering the artisans to carve impressive images of him onto the facade and pillars of these temples, King Ramses' perception of himself changed forever. The temples' scenes of the gods were ordered to be re-carved to include the great king, and he gained eminence equal to that of his fellow gods. In the end, Abu Simbel became a temple dedicated to Ramses the Great, earning the name "The House of Ramses, Beloved of Amun." Amazingly in the 1960's the monument was dismantled and moved over 200 feet to higher ground where it was reconstructed. This saved it from the rising waters of the Aswan Dam was built to create Lake Nassar. The moving of this temple and the smaller temple that RAMSES built for his favorite Queen, the beautiful Nefertari with took four years. Completed with help from around the world, both financial and technical, the final cost was more than 40 million US dollars.

By Guy. Aged 12. June 1999.