Page 76 - All About History - Issue 70-18

H OR O “Ramses would

go on to live out

an astonishing

reign as Pharaoh...
VILL IN? 100-odd children”
outliving most

of his estimated

Ramses II

Known to many as Ramses the Great, did this

famous pharaoh really deserve his grand epithet?

Written by Amy Best
D uring its long history, Ancient Egypt boasted suggested that between his late teens and early

of
Many
many
pharaohs.
them
20s, Ramses
ascended to the throne of Egypt
tried
to
by engraving
a name for themselves
make
after his father’s death and then became the third
tales of their achievements
Pharaoh of the 19th dynasty.
on the limestone
live
their legacy would be
so
Ramses
II
would go on to
slabs of temples,
solidified forever. No Egyptian ruler came close reign as Pharaoh from 1279-1213, out an astonishing
celebrating an
to Ramses II in their quest for respect, glory and unprecedented total of 14 Sed Festivals, living into
remembrance. But was Ramses the Great, really his early 90s, out living most of his estimated 100-
quite so, well, great? odd children and becoming the second longest Defining
Born around 1303 BCE to Seti I and Queen reigning Pharaoh in all of Egypt’s history after moment
Tuya, Ramses, like many young princes of Egypt, Pepi II Neferkare. Many of his people, subjects and Ramses II becomes
would learn much at his father’s side to prepare advisors had been born, lived their full lives and co-regent
At the age of 14, an adolescent Ramses shared
him for his accession to the throne. Since the time died knowing Ramses as Pharaoh. There was
his father’s throne. Like a royal apprenticeship,
of the warrior Pharoah Thutmose III, Egypt had even panic among citizens that if he were to die, the prince learnt what it was like to rule Ancient
lost land to the Hittites and Nubians, with whom their world as they knew it would most certainly Egypt under the watchful eye of his father, Seti
I. To fully prepare him
the Egyptian people had long-standing tensions. end. To many, he was a hero.
for what it meant to be the king, Ramses
Seti began to conduct many military campaigns Many Egyptians who resided in the Delta-region also received military training, held
to claim back land they believed to rightfully be were familiar with the Sherden sea pirates, thought several posts in the army, and even
theirs and to show his son that it was the Pharaoh’s to be allies of the Hittites. The pirates frequently fought in battle.
c.1289 BCE
responsibility to protect Egypt’s lands and people plagued the sea routes to Egypt and attacked the
from any possible threats. Ramses embraced cargo-laden vessels, which moved through them.
this right of passage and observed, learnt and When Ramses was only in the second year of
remembered the practices passed on by his father his reign, he devised a strategy which posted a
and would even take his own sons, Khaemweset powerful naval contingent along the coasts. The
and Amunhirwenemef, on campaigns to depart the pirates were lured in by their intended targets and
same knowledge onto them later in his life. then met with the full force of Ramses’s ships
At the tender age of ten, Ramses received the and troops. Their ships were sunk and many of
honour and title of captain of the Egyptian army the pirates were captured and brought aboard the
and at 14 was appointed Prince Regent, during Egyptian vessels to serve the Pharaoh.
which time he oversaw and implemented his This was Ramses’s first significant opportunity to
father’s building projects, exercising the budding underscore the relationship between the Egyptians
leader within him in the field and in the quarries. and Hittites; Egypt under Ramses’s rule was not to
Though his exact age is still disputed, it is be underestimated.

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