RAMESSES II

Ramesses II = "Ra is the one who bore him " = reigned 1279 - 1213 BCE. Also known as Ramesses the Great, he was the third Pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Ramesses II is often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful Pharaoh of the New Kingdom. His successors and later Egyptians called him the "Great Ancestor".

Ramesses II built extensively throughout Egypt and Nubia, and his Cartouches are prominently displayed even in buildings he did not construct. He covered the land from the Delta to Nubia with buildings in a way no monarch before him had. Ramesses II also founded a new capital city in the Delta during his reign, called Pi-Ramesses. His memorial temple, known toady as the Ramesseum, was just the beginning of the Pharaoh's obsession with building. Ramesses II built on a monumental scale to ensure that his legacy would survive the ravages of time. Ramesses II erected more colossal statues of himself than any other Pharaoh.

                                                      Ramesses II's Queen was Nefertari.

By the time of his death, aged 90 years, Ramesses II suffered from dental problems, arthritis and hardening of the arteries. He had made Egypt rich from the supplies and riches he had collected from other empires. He had outlived many of his wives and children and left great memorials all over Egypt. Nine more Pharaohs took the name Ramesses in his honour.