# Ramesses II Source: https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/pharaohs/ramesses-ii Language: en # Ramesses II Sixty-six years on the throne, and his name cut into everything within reach. **Reign**: c.1279–1213 BCE **Dynasty**: 19th Dynasty **Period**: New Kingdom **Also written**: Ramses II · Rameses the Great · Usermaatre Setepenre · Ozymandias · رعمسيس الثاني · وسر ماعت رع ## Who they were The son of Seti I, who came to the throne in his mid-twenties and ruled for sixty-six years — long enough to outlive at least a dozen of his own sons. He fathered a very large family, moved the working capital to a new city in the eastern Delta, and built more, and more visibly, than any other Egyptian king. ## Why they matter Ramesses II’s reign combined major building projects with war and diplomacy. The treaty with the Hittites is among the earliest surviving international peace treaties, preserved in Egyptian and Hittite versions. ## What happened His monuments present Kadesh as a royal triumph. The battle did not give Egypt control of the city, and the broader conflict eventually led to diplomacy. Treat the reliefs as a king’s account of events rather than a neutral military record. ## What they built in Luxor The Ramesseum, his mortuary temple (a temple for royal commemoration and divine worship, active during a king’s life and after death), with the fallen colossus and the mud-brick storerooms behind it. At Luxor Temple: the First Pylon (a monumental gateway formed by two massive towers), the forecourt, the seated and standing colossi and the obelisk. At Karnak: the southern half of the Great Hypostyle Hall (a roofed hall supported by rows of columns), in sunk relief. In the Valley of the Queens, QV66, cut for Nefertari. In the Valley of the Kings, KV7 for himself and KV5 for his sons. ## Where to meet them At the Ramesseum, the fallen colossus connects his building programme with the later Ozymandias tradition. At Luxor Temple, look for the pylon and royal statues; at Karnak, compare his reliefs and recut inscriptions with earlier work. How we label claims ## What is disputed Each claim below carries its evidence class. A claim marked interpretation or uncertain is not a weaker version of a fact — it is a different kind of statement, and the note says why. - Interpretation That Kadesh was an Egyptian victory. That the battle happened in his fifth year is fact, and the Egyptian account is unusually detailed. It is also a royal victory narrative repeated on five temple walls, and the Hittite records, the fate of Kadesh itself — which stayed outside Egyptian control — and the border that the later treaty confirmed all point to an outcome closer to a stalemate. Historians read it as a battle Egypt did not lose rather than one it won. - Tradition That he was the pharaoh of the biblical Exodus. The identification is very widely repeated and has no Egyptian source behind it. No Egyptian text names the events, and no archaeological evidence connects them to his reign. The association comes from the mention of a city called Raamses in the biblical text and from a long popular, literary and cinematic tradition. It is carried here as a tradition because visitors arrive with it, not because it is history. Who added what ## Before and after [19th Dynasty **Seti I** c.1294–1279 BCE A ruler whose finely worked reliefs reward a close look at Egyptian carving. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/pharaohs/seti-i) [19th Dynasty **Ramesses II** c.1279–1213 BCE Sixty-six years on the throne, and his name cut into everything within reach. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/pharaohs/ramesses-ii) [20th Dynasty **Ramesses III** c.1184–1153 BCE The king behind Medinet Habu, whose reign left records of both military ambition and economic strain. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/pharaohs/ramesses-iii) [**Nefertari** A royal woman remembered through an exceptionally rich painted tomb. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/pharaohs/nefertari) Tomb ## Their tomb No tomb in this directory is recorded to them. [Tomb directory](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/tombs) Continue reading ## Explore the connections 1–1 / 8 [Temple · West bank ### The Ramesseum Ramesses II’s mortuary temple, largely collapsed — including the colossus that put “Ozymandias” into English. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/ramesseum)[Temple · East bank ### Luxor Temple A temple of Amun in the heart of today’s city, shaped by royal ritual and the annual Opet festival. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/luxor-temple)[Temple complex · East bank ### Karnak Temple Complex Two thousand years of building, rebuilding and royal ambition, gathered around the temples of Amun. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/karnak)[Necropolis · West bank ### Valley of the Queens A royal cemetery whose tombs vary greatly in decoration and access. Check which are open before deciding how it fits your day. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/valley-of-the-queens)[Necropolis · West bank ### Valley of the Kings The royal burial landscape of the New Kingdom: rock-cut tombs tucked into a desert valley, separate from the kings’ major commemorative temples. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/valley-of-the-kings)[God ### Amun The hidden god of Thebes, who became king of the gods and the state god of an empire. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/gods/amun)[God ### Ra The sun — and the night journey that every royal tomb in the valley is a map of. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/gods/ra)[God ### Ptah The craftsman god of Memphis, who made the world by thinking it and saying it. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/gods/ptah) Sources & further reading 4 Tier 2 Pharaoh Triumphant: The Life and Times of Ramesses II, K. A. Kitchen Aris & Phillips Tier 2 The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, edited by Ian Shaw Oxford University Press Tier 1 [Karnak Great Hypostyle Hall Project — epigraphic survey of the hall of Seti I and Ramesses II](https://classic.memphis.edu/hypostyle/tour_hall/interior_scenes.php) University of Memphis Online source checked 2026-09-19 Tier 2 The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt, Richard H. Wilkinson Thames & Hudson Source review is incomplete. Consultation dates are shown only for checked references. Published works and institutional references for further reading. [Sources and review status](mailto:corrections@egyptmore.com?subject=Luxor101%20correction) [Pharaohs](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/pharaohs)