60 Fun Facts About Ramesses II

Ramesses II was the third pharaoh of which Egyptian dynasty?

He is generally regarded as the greatest and most powerful pharaoh of the New Kingdom.

How long did Ramesses II reign?

It was the longest recorded reign of any pharaoh, possibly matched only by Pepi II a thousand years earlier.

By what name did ancient Greek sources refer to Ramesses II?

It comes from the first part of his throne name, Usermaatre Setepenre; Shelley borrowed it for his sonnet.

How old was Ramesses II when he came to the throne?

He had been made prince regent by his father Seti I at about fourteen.

What position had Ramesses II's grandfather, Ramesses I, held before Horemheb named him successor?

Ramesses II was not born a prince; he was about eleven when his grandfather became king.

On what date do most Egyptologists place Ramesses II's accession?

He died on 13 August 1213 BC after reigning 66 years and 74 days, according to a 2016 reconstruction.

How many military campaigns did Ramesses II conduct, all victories except one draw?

His army is estimated at some 100,000 men.

Which sea pirates did Ramesses II defeat in his second year, later recruiting many into his bodyguard?

They wore horned helmets with a ball on top and may have come from Ionia or Sardinia.

Against which empire did Ramesses II fight the Battle of Kadesh?

Their king was Muwatalli II; the battle took place in Ramesses's fifth regnal year.

On what date did Ramesses arrive at Kadesh, according to Egyptian sources?

He had marched through Canaan for exactly a month; his troops were caught in a Hittite ambush.

How did the surviving Hittite charioteers escape after the Egyptian counterattack at Kadesh?

Ramesses held the field but could not sustain a siege, and the enemy won the campaign overall.

How is the Battle of Kadesh generally judged by historians?

Ramesses claimed a great triumph on his temple walls, but the Egyptians retreated and the enemy briefly held Damascus.

How many chariots was the arms factory at Pi-Ramesses supposedly able to produce in two weeks?

It also turned out 1,000 weapons a week and 1,000 shields in a week and a half.

In his tenth-year campaign at Dapur, Ramesses boasted of fighting for two hours without wearing what?

Six of his young sons, still wearing side locks, took part in the assault.

At what point in his reign did Ramesses II conclude his treaty with the Hittite king Hattusili III?

The crisis had been triggered by Hattusili's deposed nephew Mursili III fleeing to Egypt.

How do the Egyptian and Hittite versions of the 1259 BC treaty differ?

The treaty was carved at Karnak; it has 18 articles.

On what material was the Hittite peace treaty delivered to the Egyptians?

Ramesses received it on 10 November 1259 BC by the standard chronology.

How many Sed festivals did Ramesses II celebrate, more than any other pharaoh?

The jubilee traditionally came in year 30 and every three years after; he sometimes held them every two.

What was the name of the new capital the pharaoh founded in the eastern Nile Delta?

Its full name meant 'Domain of Ramesses, Great in Victory'; the palace had its own zoo.

For a time in the early 20th century, the site of Pi-Ramesses was mistakenly identified as which city?

Ramesside statuary had been carried there; the real site lies about 30 km south near modern Qantir.

Why did Ramesses II insist his carvings be cut deeply into the stone?

Deep relief also caught the Egyptian sun, linking him to Ra; his cartouches appear even on buildings he did not build.

What is the name of Ramesses II's mortuary temple in western Thebes?

Diodorus Siculus marvelled at it; a school for scribes was found among its ruins.

How much did the enthroned statue of Ramesses at his Theban mortuary temple weigh?

The syenite colossus stood 17 metres high; only fragments of base and torso remain.

In which year did Ramesses and Nefertari travel to Nubia to inaugurate the temple at Abu Simbel?

The temple has been called ego cast in stone: its builder meant to be one of Egypt's gods.

Which Swiss traveller rediscovered Abu Simbel in 1813?

Sand blocked the entrance for four more years until Belzoni got inside on 4 August 1817.

How much did the colossal statue of Ramesses II erected in Cairo's Ramesses Square in 1955 weigh?

Found in six pieces near Memphis, it was moved again in 2006 to escape exhaust fumes, and now stands near the Grand Egyptian Museum.

What was unusual about the royal bust of Ramesses II unearthed at Mit Rahina in December 2019?

The only previously known Ka statue is wooden and belongs to a 13th Dynasty king.

A fragment of Ramesses II's original sarcophagus, identified in 2023, had been reused around 1000 BC by whom?

Frédéric Payraudeau spotted the cartouche of Ramesses II on the granite piece.

About how old was Ramesses II when he died?

He suffered from arthritis, hardened arteries, heart disease and severe dental problems.

What is one suggested cause of Ramesses II's death?

A significant hole was found in his mandible; his lungs are missing, so drowning cannot be tested.

In which tomb in the Valley of the Kings was Ramesses II originally buried?

Priests later moved the body to escape looters; it was finally found in 1881 in TT320.

In what year was Ramesses II's mummy discovered in the Royal Cache?

It lay in a reused, ordinary wooden coffin in the tomb of the high priest Pinedjem II.

Which French Egyptologist first unwrapped the mummy and described its 'aquiline nose and strong jaw'?

He thought the reddish hair had been dyed by henna in embalming; later tests showed it was natural.

To which country was Ramesses II's mummy flown in 1976 for treatment, with full military honours?

The story that it was issued a passport is false; the French word passeport was used for its paperwork.

Microscopic study of the mummy's hair roots proved that Ramesses II's hair was naturally what colour?

Red hair was associated with the god Set; his father's name Seti means 'follower of Set'.

What was the mummy irradiated for before its return from Paris to Egypt in May 1977?

A French doctor had found it in poor condition in 1975.

What did French police arrest a man for trying to sell online in 2006?

His late father had been on the 1970s analysis team; the hair went back to Egypt the next year.

Where was Ramesses II's mummy moved in April 2021 in the Pharaohs' Golden Parade?

Seventeen other kings and four queens made the same journey through Cairo.

Who discovered the tomb of Nefertari, Ramesses II's most important consort, in 1904?

Its wall paintings are regarded as among the greatest achievements of Egyptian art.

KV5, rediscovered by Kent Weeks in 1995, was built to hold the remains of whom?

It is the largest tomb in the Valley of the Kings, with perhaps 200 corridors and chambers; he had an estimated 52 sons.

Which of Ramesses's sons was his firstborn?

He led one wing of the army in the third Syrian campaign; the eventual successor was the thirteenth son.

Which son succeeded Ramesses II on the throne?

Papyrus Gurob shows Ramesses's Year 67 followed straight by Merneptah's Year 1.

Which poet based his famous sonnet about a ruined colossus on Ramesses II?

He paraphrased an inscription reported by Diodorus Siculus: 'King of Kings am I, Osymandias.'

In Watchmen, which character models his costumed alter-ego on Ramesses II?

Anne Rice made Ramesses the hero of The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned.

Who played Ramesses in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956)?

He is the vengeful antagonist, scornful of his father's preference for Moses.

Who voiced Ramesses, speaking and singing, in the 1998 animated film The Prince of Egypt?

Joel Edgerton played him in Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014).

Per Egypt's Mostafa Waziry in 2023, who ruled Egypt at the time of the biblical Exodus story?

He said no evidence links Ramesses II or any Egyptian king to the Exodus, despite the films.

How tall is Ramesses II's mummy?

CT scans suggest he walked with a pronounced stoop in his last decades.

How did later pharaohs refer to Ramesses II when praying to share his longevity?

Ramesses IV asked the gods to double for him 'the extended reign of Ramesses II, the great god'.

On which temple's walls are Ramesses II's Nubian campaigns depicted, with his sons in chariots?

The temple was relocated to New Kalabsha during the Nubian salvage campaign of the 1960s.

How were Ramesses II's cuneiform-era contemporaries at Hattusa recorded pronouncing his name?

His full titulary came out as Wasmuriya Satepnaria Riamessesa Maiamana.

The Abu Simbel temples were relocated in 1968 to escape the rising waters of which reservoir?

An artificial hill was built over a domed structure to house them, overseen by Polish archaeologist Kazimierz Michałowski.

Into how many blocks were the Abu Simbel temples cut for their relocation?

The last block came out on 16 April 1966, two weeks ahead of schedule, and the smallest weighed seven tons.

On 22 February and 22 October the sun reaches 63 metres into the Great Temple, lighting every statue but which god's?

Engineers gathered at sunrise on 22 February 1966 to confirm the alignment still worked after the move.

Roughly what did the Abu Simbel rescue project cost in the 1960s?

Egypt bore half the bill and 48 countries covered the rest; it came in about 10% above the original estimate.

The smaller temple at Abu Simbel is dedicated to which goddess, personified by Nefertari?

The Great Temple honours the three state deities of the day, Ra-Horakhty, Ptah and Amun, behind four colossal statues of the king.

Which Italian explorer finally cleared enough sand to enter Abu Simbel's Great Temple in 1817?

He returned with Henry Salt's backing after running out of food and money on his first attempt in 1816.

Who was the first European woman to visit Abu Simbel, carving her name into a colossus's throne in 1845?

Thomas Cook's steamers began passing the site in 1874, reaching it on the evening of the third day out of Aswan.

By the 6th century BC, how far up the Great Temple's statues had drifting sand already reached?

The temple stayed unknown to Europeans until Burckhardt spotted the small temple and the top frieze in March 1813.

Construction of the Abu Simbel complex began around 1264 BC and lasted roughly how long?

It was known as the Temple of Ramesses, Beloved by Amun, and was finished about 1244 BC.