Ramses II is the great Pharaoh, the architect of his own glory. History of ancient Egypt. Ramesses II. Family of Ramesses II

Ramesses II the Great was an Egyptian pharaoh from the 19th dynasty who reigned approximately 1279-1213 BC. e.

Ramses went down in history with the nickname the Great, and not without reason. He himself was aware of his importance. “One against a thousand chariots” - this is how he saw his participation in the legendary.

He was the ruler of Ancient Egypt during the highest – and last – flowering of this state, during the period of the so-called New Kingdom, which is limited to the 16th–11th centuries BC. e. This pharaoh was in power for 66 years - which sets him apart from other rulers ancient world. One of the most famous battles took place under him, and probably the most important treaty of antiquity was concluded. After the death of the pharaoh, his cult persisted for several centuries.

There are extremely numerous sources that tell about this ruler, which to this day are not exactly counted, and he himself personally took care of this. Firstly, inscriptions on the walls of temples and tombs have been preserved. Secondly, documents from an archive discovered on the site of the ancient capital of the Hittite power, Hattusa (the village of Bogazköy in the territory of modern Turkey), have survived to this day. 15,000 texts of various genres were stored there, including literary works, business documents, and correspondence.

Excavations of this famous archive began in 1906–1912 by the German archaeologist G. Winkler, who was primarily interested in the history of Mesopotamia. But traces of Egypt were also found in the archive. The documents were compiled mainly in the international language for the Ancient East, Akkadian.

The historiography devoted to the reign of Ramses II is enormous. In German science it makes up entire libraries. Available literature is also available in Russian. First of all, the works of the remarkable pre-revolutionary Egyptologist B. Turaev. In his “History of the Ancient East” much is outdated, but one cannot help but appreciate the beauty of the style, the vividness of the presentation, loving relationship to Ancient Egypt.

There is a monograph by the Soviet historian I. Stuchevsky “Ramses II and Herihor. From the history of Ancient Egypt of the Ramessid era" (that was the name of this dynasty). The book is notable for the fact that it contains many source texts, some in the author’s translation. The study of the French scientist and writer C. Jacques “Egypt of the Great Pharaohs” is also very interesting.

It should be noted that in the history of Ancient Egypt there are almost no completely accurate dates of birth and death of rulers. Egyptologists endlessly refine them. Ramses II was the grandson of Ramses I, a former chariot commander who, after a military coup, replaced Pharaoh Horemheb on the throne and founded a new, XIX dynasty.

Father - Pharaoh Seti I. Mother - Queen Tuya. Images of her have survived to this day, indicating that she was characterized by arrogance. Is it because, according to some information, she was originally a singer. Arrogance often distinguishes people from the lower classes...

As one of the inscriptions dedicated to Ramses II says, “the gods cried out for joy at his birth.” This, of course, is a tribute to literary tradition. But Ramses actually knew from childhood that his destiny was power. It was in him that my father saw his successor. All pharaohs had harems, which consisted of legal wives and concubines, and many children. But, despite the fact that Ramses certainly had brothers, Seti I did not hesitate to choose one son to succeed him.

At the age of 10, the heir, who, by the way, was distinguished by great physical strength, took part in one of his father’s campaigns against the Libyans. Libya, like all conquered peoples, tried to regain their independence at any seemingly convenient opportunity, and the pharaoh had to suppress such protests. So, at the age of ten, Ramses II was already ready for both power and war. We can say that he spent the first half of his life on a military chariot.

Apparently, he became his father’s co-ruler - to ensure the reliability of the transfer of power. At least one of the inscriptions of Seti I contains the following words: “Crown the king so that I may see his perfection during his lifetime.”

1290 - BC e., when Ramses was about 20 years old, he solemnly buried his father, who died a natural death, in the Valley of the Kings, and began to rule Egypt. This was approximately 100 years after the death of the famous one. Contemporaries noted the militancy and powerful fighting spirit of Ramses II: “Foreigners tremble before him! His name spreads throughout the Universe, he is as powerful as fire, he is a ferociously roaring lion with his claws extended.” The metaphor has some real basis. The fact is that Ramses II had a tame lion that accompanied him on his campaigns. The lion lay across the entrance to the royal tent and warned with a menacing roar that he would not let anyone through without the owner’s command.

Ramses' plans after coming to power are absolutely obvious. They are evidenced by an inscription on the wall of the temple in Luxor. Pharaoh asks the god Amun to grant him - no more, no less - power over the Universe. How did the ancient Egyptians see the Universe? They knew the peoples and kingdoms closest to them in the Middle East and the lands located south of the Nile Valley in Africa. But in the pharaoh’s inscription a completely metaphorical image of the Universe is found: the text says that Ramses wants to be the ruler of “everything that goes around the sun.”

He began to take steps in this direction. He began strengthening the army. To the main military formations, which were called in honor of the gods the detachments of Amun, Ra and Ptah, he added a new one - Setha. This god in Egyptian mythology is the killer of Osiris, identified with animals such as the pig and the donkey. But Setha (or Seti) is also the name of the father of Ramses II... In addition, Setha was considered the god of foreigners. And Egypt conquered the surrounding peoples more and more energetically.

The pharaoh began by suppressing unrest in Libya and Nubia. With a change of power, unrest in the provinces was inevitable. But the 20-year-old new ruler turned out to be a strong fighter. The conquered territories are wealth, first of all, gold and silver mines, precious woods. And Pharaoh took care of the safety of his treasury.

After pacifying the rebels, he repelled the invasion of the Sherdan sea pirates - those who in the distant future gave the name to the island of Sardinia and formed the basis of its population. The defeated pirates became his bodyguards.

Ramses II was also preparing for war with the Hittites. This people of Asia Minor moved to the world stage in those days. The period of its heyday is quite short - from the 14th to the beginning of the 12th century BC. e. However, it was an amazing takeoff!

The ethnic appearance of the Hittites is mysterious. These are relatively fair-haired and light-skinned people, which is not typical for the East. It is not entirely clear where they could have come from and why they then disappeared. The powerful alliance of different peoples they created fell at the beginning of the 12th century BC. e. - both due to internal strife, and under the blows of conquerors invading from the sea, including the Etruscans and Danaans - the future Greeks.

But while the Hittite power was on the rise, the pharaoh of Egypt could not help but fight with it. After all, between the possessions of the Hittites and the Egyptians lay tempting lands - Syria and Palestine. And every powerful neighbor sought to take possession of them.

In the fourth year of his reign, Ramses II made a reconnaissance campaign in Northern Syria. He reached approximately what is now Beirut and installed a stele there. The warlike Hittite king Muwatalli II was gathering forces at this time. He created a military alliance of more than 20 nations.

1285 - in the fifth year of his reign, the pharaoh went on a campaign again, taking with him the main formations - Amun (he led him personally), Ra, Ptah and Seth. The main battle took place on the territory of Syria, near the city of Kadesh.

Among the most important sources, which preserved information about this war, is the so-called poem “On the Battle of Kadesh.” This piece of art, although, of course, not a poem in the modern sense. The text includes dialogues, including a conversation between Ramses and the god Amon.

There are also other types of sources. The document, called by historians “the report of the battle,” contains strict facts. There are reliefs that depict episodes of the battle with brief texts explaining what is depicted. But the reliability of this information is quite relative. It is significant, for example, that each of the parties that took part in the battle - both the Egyptians and the Hittites - declared themselves victorious. How can one not remember the Battle of Borodino in 1812, in which there was also no clear winner! Under Kadesh, the field remained with the Hittites, as in 1812 - with the French. However, were they winners?

On the eve of the battle, two Bedouins snuck into the pharaoh's camp. They said that they had escaped from the Hittites and from now on they wanted to serve the Egyptians. In reality, these were not defectors, but spies who brought misinformation to the Egyptians. And although they were beaten with sticks, they did not stop repeating false information - and Ramses believed it. They assured that the Hittite army had retreated far to the North and they could safely go to Kadesh. Therefore, Ramses decided to rush into battle without waiting for his main forces to arrive.

He advanced with a single force named after the god Amun and his personal guard (Sherdani). He stood near the city of Kadesh. The camp, surrounded by shields, was rectangular in shape. Pharaoh's tent was in the middle.

There is a relief representing the view of the pharaoh’s camp and the walls of Kadesh: at the entrance to Ramses’ tent there is the famous lion, Egyptian warriors are cleaning their weapons... Everything seemed to be calm. And suddenly - an attack by the Hittites. 2,500 Hittite chariots plus infantry! Ramses II was surrounded. He managed to put on his armor and jump into the chariot. Together with the driver and shield bearer, whose name was Menna (a rare case when the name common man went down in history), he fought back to the last. But the forces were unequal.

The inscriptions say that in desperation the pharaoh turned to the god Amun for help. Ramses' words amaze the modern reader. He speaks to God demandingly, from the position of some inner strength: “What happened, my father Amon? Has the father forgotten his son? Have I done anything without your knowledge? Do I not walk and stop at your will? Have I transgressed your plans? I appeal to you, father, surrounded by countless enemies that I did not know about. When all the foreign countries rallied against me, and I was left alone, and there was no one with me, and my army abandoned me, and numerous soldiers turned away, I began to shout to them, but not one of them heard. And I realized that Amon is better than millions of warriors, hundreds of thousands of chariots.”

According to legend, the god Amon responded like this: “Forward, Ramses, I’m with you! I am your father, my hand is with you, I am the master of victory! After which a miracle happened: Amon extended his hand to Ramses, and he overturned thousands of chariots. The image has been preserved: the chariot of the pharaoh, there are many corpses of enemies around, he throws some of them into the river. One petty king of Aleppo is being held upside down by his legs by Egyptian soldiers, pouring out the water that he swallowed when he ran away from Ramses and swam across the river. Surprisingly, these are clear elements of ancient satire.

Of course, there is a rational explanation for what happened. When the attack began, the pharaoh managed to send the vizier to notify one of his formations so that his troops would hurry up; they approached and crossed the Orontes River. So reinforcements arrived in a timely manner. However, the fighting spirit of the pharaoh is of great importance.

Ramses, then still a fairly young ruler, was himself shocked by his salvation. After the battle, he vowed every day to personally feed the horses that carried him out of the encirclement.

And the result of the battle was, relatively speaking, a “military draw” with some advantage in favor of the Hittites, who retained part of their possessions in Northern Syria. It took 16 more for long years so that opponents understand that it is better not to fight, but to unite, agree on friendship and alliance.

The years of reign that followed the Syrian campaign revealed completely new qualities in the pharaoh. He turned out to be the greatest builder. Under him, the capital of Per-Ramesses was founded in the Nile Delta. The ancient Egyptians had several capitals before: Memphis, Thebes, Heracleopolis.

Ramses also built his own family. His first legal wife, Nefertari, is well known from sculptural portraits and descriptions. Her best images in granite are kept in the Vatican Museums, and a seated figure in black granite, also of amazing beauty, is in Turin. Her temple, discovered by archaeologists in 1904, is located in the Valley of the Kings.

Ramses' second wife was Isi-Nofret, the mother of his illustrious fourth son named Khaemuas. This man, amazing for his era, was interested in architecture and antiquities, working on a kind of prototype of archeology.

The throne passed to the thirteenth son of Ramses II - Merneptah. And in total, as far as we know, the ruler had 111 sons and 65 daughters from his wives and concubines. An image on the wall of one of the temples depicted the procession of his many children.

What did the tireless builder Ramses II build? It's hard to count everything. Many statues remain from his era. These are mainly colossi, that is, sculptures of enormous size. The name of the main architect is known - Mai. He supervised the construction of the new capital, Per Ramses. Maya had a high military rank. He sent distant expeditions for marble and granite, for example to the south, to Aswan.

One of the wonders of the world was the Ramesseum - the memorial temple of Ramses II in the Abu Simbel complex on the west bank of the Nile, in the Thebes region. A feature of ancient Egyptian culture was that a person took care of his burial throughout his life. It was believed that the more carefully he prepared the transition to another world, the better he would be there. That is why Ramses built such a grandiose funeral temple for himself.

Later, the building was covered with sand and discovered by the Swiss orientalist I. Burckhardt in 1812. The heads sticking out of the sand, as it turned out, belong to four sessile colossi, each 20 meters high. In 1964–1968, in connection with the construction of the Aswan Dam, at the initiative of UNESCO, the colossi were dismantled, cut into more than a thousand blocks, moved higher by 65 meters and reassembled. An unprecedented undertaking that brought together specialists from different countries!

There is a huge granite colossus of Ramses II at Per-Ramses. Its height is about 27 meters, weight – 900 tons. One can only imagine the costs this kind of construction required. Their construction devastated the state treasury.

One day, according to sources, a huge block of quartzite of unprecedented size was found. Pharaoh immediately decided that it would be another colossus. He wrote to his masters (who, by the way, were not slaves) to begin creating a new masterpiece.

Here are his words: “The bins will be bursting with grain for you, so that you will not spend a day without food. I will fill your warehouses with various things: bread, meat, sweet pies, I will give you sandals, ointments in abundance so that you anoint your heads every 10 days... I will give you a lot of people so that you do not need anything; fishermen to bring gifts from the Nile, and many others: gardeners to cultivate vegetable gardens, potters to make vessels to keep the water fresh summer time" These promises convey true passion – both for construction and for perpetuating one’s memory.

Absorbed in construction, the pharaoh was forced every now and then to go on expeditions to suppress the uprisings of the peoples subject to Egypt. He did not conquer new lands. Meanwhile, the forces of the ancient Egyptian state were depleted. This has already happened in previous turning points - between the Ancient and Middle Kingdoms, then between the Middle and New Kingdoms. Anticipating the impending decline, Ramses willingly negotiated and concluded an alliance with the Hittites. The success was also facilitated by the fact that the Hittites had a new king. The new ruler Hattusili III was not as militant as his older brother Muwatalli II.

After lengthy negotiations, a silver tablet with text in Akkadian was brought to Per-Ramesses. Now we call these kinds of documents treaties on peace and mutual assistance in the fight against possible enemies and dangers. The agreement was concluded in the 21st year of the reign of Ramses II, that is, somewhere in 1269 BC. e. The ruler was about 40 years old.

The text of the treaty was translated into Egyptian and carved on the wall of the Ramesseum. There were also cuneiform clay tablets with the same text. One of them is kept in St. Petersburg, in the State Hermitage.

The contract is quite long and extremely detailed. Here are its fragments translated by I. Stuchevsky: “As for the future up to eternity, as for the thoughts of the great ruler of Egypt and the great ruler of the country of Hitt, then may God not allow hostility to happen between them in accordance with the agreement... He is in brotherhood with me, he at peace with me, I am in brotherhood with him, I am at peace with him forever.”

The text of the agreement between the Egyptians and the Hittites is displayed today at the UN headquarters - as a symbol of civilized international relations. This is a sign that many thousands of years ago people could resolve some issues peacefully. In seeking to learn from itself, humanity has not yet been able to achieve great success, but the attempt is undoubtedly gratifying.

It is no coincidence that Pharaoh Ramses II remained in history with the nickname the Great. He is truly a great builder and a great international figure. Having concluded a peace treaty with the Hittites, he provided both his state and the neighboring one with about 60 more years of relatively quiet life.

13 years after the conclusion of the significant agreement, the tireless ruler, who was already about 53 years old, married the daughter of King Hattusili III. She took the Egyptian name Maathornefura - “seeing the beauty of the Sun.” The sun for her, of course, was supposed to be the son of the god Amun - her husband Pharaoh. There is an assumption that the Hittite king himself arrived at the wedding. However, many Egyptologists doubt this. Be that as it may, the ceremony was solemn and magnificent.

The images that have survived to this day show how a huge procession carries a dowry - gold and other treasures. Whole herds of cattle are driven from Asia Minor to Egypt. This is a considerable value - meat and skins. But this is also an expressive gesture: the situation is somewhat reminiscent of a victory that was never won - after all, wealth is arriving in Egypt, although this is not war booty... And at the age of 62, the pharaoh married, also quite officially, another Hittite princess, sister first.

IN last years During his life, Ramses II clearly enjoyed relative peace, all the time taking care of perpetuating his memory. He passed away when he was about 90 years old.

The posthumous life of the pharaoh turned out to be quite stormy. He was solemnly buried, but already at the end of the reign of the next, XX dynasty, in the 11th century BC. e., the tomb was plundered. All the treasures were stolen. The priests transferred the mummy of the pharaoh to the then not yet plundered tomb of his father, Seti I. But later it was also plundered.

In total, the mummy was moved from place to place four times and was finally hidden in a hiding place. It was found at the end of the 19th century and became, as scientists delicately write, the property of science. That is, it was exhibited as an exhibit in the Cairo Museum. The state of preservation of the mummy is amazing. In the 75th year of the 20th century, when it began to be damaged, it was taken to Paris for restoration. At the same time, they were greeted very solemnly, as if the French capital had actually been visited by an ancient Egyptian pharaoh. And this is absolutely fair. Ramses II undoubtedly deserves the respectful memory of mankind.

Ramesses II (1303/1294-1212 BC) reigned ca. 1279-1212 BC e.

Pharaoh Ramesses II of the 19th Dynasty ascended the throne at the age of 20 and remained on it until his death at 90. In ancient Egyptian history there was no ruler who held this position for so long. Ramses became famous for his victorious wars, his love of architecture, wives and gods. In the name of the gods, he erected such a number of temples that none of the pharaohs had erected either before or after him. He built the new capital of Egypt 11er-Ramesses - “The House of Ramesses”. For this city, captive Jewish slaves produced special building blocks from clay. Ramesses was succeeded by the 18th of his 200 children, his son Minentah, who was already 60 years old and under whom the decline of the Egyptian Empire began.

The change of pharaohs caused many enslaved peoples to want to stand up and break out of captivity. No one expected favors from Ramesses II, who had just received the throne. The Arab Nubians who lived in the Nile Valley, where they mined gold and ivory for Egypt, feared that the new pharaoh would further oppress them. The uprising spread to many Egyptian regions and caused serious concern in Thebes and Memphis, the then capitals of Egypt. The young and inexperienced Ramesses had to go on a campaign with the army. This campaign was successful, the rebels were defeated.

The pharaoh returned to Memphis with rich booty and many thousands of captives who joined the army of construction slaves. The name of Ramses was glorified, all kinds of honors were given to him, statues were erected. But before he had time to cope with one misfortune, the next one came - the Libyans came against him from the west. Their calculation was simple: the pharaoh was inexperienced and easy to defeat. But the Libyans miscalculated - Ramesses learned to command troops. He skillfully lined up their ranks, called for an attack, and fought himself. The Libyans were defeated.

And soon there was another invasion - this time from the north. The warlike Sherdans who came from the sea landed at the mouth of the Nile. In the new conditions, Ramses acted in a new way. He was in no hurry to attack, studied the situation, and after waiting for a favorable moment, deployed his troops to attack. Order! Aquarium cleaning is done professionally at Aquarium - Style. The Sherdans were taken by surprise. There were so many prisoners that Ramesses invited them to come into his service. The Sherdans agreed and did not regret it - they received good booty after successful campaigns.

Waging wars required a lot of money, and the gold in the Nile Valley was running out. The servants reported that its reserves were found in the Nubian Valley, in the Wadi Alaki area, but there was no water there. Pharaoh ordered to dig deeper. And at a depth of 6-10 meters, the workers finally found water. Gold mining provided funds to pay troops, revived trade, and made it possible to begin preparations for a great war with the Hittites, a people who lived in Asia Minor.

As evidenced by records found on stone steles, in the 4th year of his reign, Ramses undertook a large military campaign in Western Asia and captured the city of Verit, where he installed his victory stele. And already in the spring of the next year, he gathered an army of 20 thousand and approached Kadesh, an ancient Syrian city.

The Hittite king Mutawalli II, who was hostile to Ramesses, was not afraid of the Egyptians. He decided to deceive the advancing Ramses and sent spies to him. They managed to convince the pharaoh that the Hittite army was supposedly weakened and retreated to the north, and Mutawalli fled. Believing the scouts, Ramesses left most of his army at the Orontes River and rushed to Kadesh, hoping for a quick victory. When he began to set up camp near the fortress walls of the city, enemy cavalry hiding nearby flew at him, followed by thousands of chariots. They fired at the Egyptians and surrounded the pharaoh's tent. Ramesses fought alongside ordinary warriors, but was doomed. A detachment of Egyptians from the crossing saved him from capture. They fought with great enthusiasm, freed their pharaoh, but were unable to break the resistance of the Hittites. Both sides suffered heavy losses. The Hittites retreated to Kadesh and took refuge behind thick fortress walls. But Ramesses no longer had the strength to take Kadesh. I had to agree to a truce, and Ramses and the remnants of his troops went to Egypt.

The pharaoh was greatly impressed by the bloody battle, in which he almost died. He ordered his participation in the Battle of Kadesh to be imprinted on the stone walls of various temples: in Abydos, Karnak, Luxor, Ramesseum and Abu Simbel. But even after this memorable battle, Ramesses continued to fight the Hittite troops attacking Egypt. Ramses later captured their fortress of Dapur, the city of Tunip, in which he erected his own statue. He again ordered his victories to be imprinted in stone on the walls of the same temples - Luxor, Karnak and Abydos.

In the 21st year of Ramesses' reign, an ambassador from Hattusili, the new king of the Hittites, arrived in his capital Per-Ramesses and handed over a silver plate with the cuneiform text of the treaty (in Akkadian), certified by seals depicting the king and queen Hagga in the embrace of the deities. The agreement was translated into Egyptian and “written down” on the walls of the temples.

Ramses sent the Hittite king Hattus or his tablet with cuneiform writing in the Akkadian language. The parties agreed not to attack each other, but, on the contrary, to help in the event of an attack by a third party or an uprising of their subjects. This was the first diplomatically formalized treaty known in world history that has survived to this day.

From this time on, the military activity of Ramses II began to subside. Obviously, age and health had an effect. In the 34th year of his reign, he married the eldest daughter of the Hittite king Hattusili, who became known as Maathornefrura, or “seeer of the beauty of the sun,” who became the great wife of the pharaoh. Later, in the 42nd year of his reign, Ramses married another daughter, Hattusili. In addition, his wives were his own daughters, as well as a lot of concubines...

The wars on Egyptian soil stopped. But along with them, the arrival of captives, free work force. Ramesses took up architecture in earnest, completing the construction of his temples, decorating them in every possible way, and erecting statues of himself. This work fell on the shoulders of the Jewish builders. Ramses himself, along with his numerous wives, children and servants, lived in the rebuilt flourishing capital of Per-Ramses, which became a rival to Thebes and Memphis.

In the new capital, he built a temple, over which towered a huge statue of him, 27 meters high, visible from afar. In addition, during his reign a canal was dug between the mouth of the Nile and the northern end of the Red Sea. Small merchant ships sailed along it. After several centuries, the canal turned out to be unsuitable for navigation and was abandoned.

IN ancient history Egypt's Ramesses II remained as the most revered pharaoh. Legends and songs were written about him, he was called the Conqueror of the Half-World. After his death, he was buried on the western bank of the Nile, opposite Thebes, in the Ramesseum mortuary complex. True, they failed to finish his grave. Currently the complex is in a ruined state.

In 1881, a mummy was discovered in the cache of Deir el-Bahri, which, as experts determined, belonged to Pharaoh Ramesses II. In 1975, this mummy was brought to Paris and subjected to general conservation at the Institute of Man.

The revival of the country's military power, victories in bloody battles, the construction of majestic architectural monuments... These events mark the era of the Ramessids, which is considered the brightest page in its chronological framework - the XIII-XI centuries. BC e. During this era, there were 18 pharaohs on the Egyptian throne. The most powerful ruler was Ramses the Great. He made a significant contribution to the history of the state.

Ancestors of the great pharaoh

The Ramessid era begins with the accession of Ramesses I to the Egyptian throne. This event occurred around 1292 BC. e. The pharaoh did not leave a bright mark on history. This is due to the fact that the period of his reign was very short. Power was in the hands of the pharaoh for only a few years.

Around 1290 BC. e. The son of Ramesses I, Seti I, ascended the Egyptian throne. His rise to power marked the beginning of a period of revival of the country after a temporary decline. The pharaoh managed to create the preconditions for the future prosperity of the state. Seti I ruled Egypt for about 11 years. Around 1279 BC. e. power passed into the hands of Ramses II. He was the son of Seti I.

New ruler

Ramses, whose biography contains many interesting facts, was very young at the time of his accession to the throne. It is impossible to name specific individual qualities that he possessed. In Egypt, all pharaohs were considered messengers of the gods, therefore in all sources they, like Ramses II, were described according to a standard model. However, the actions of the new ruler indicate that he was an ambitious, strong and determined person.

Pharaoh Ramses II, having ascended the throne, immediately ordered his subjects to cover up the names of their predecessors on the monuments. The ruler wanted the Egyptian people to remember only him. Ramses II also ordered everyone to call himself the chosen one of Amon, the benefactor of the Egyptian state and the invincible hero.

First trip to Asia

The Hittites were considered the main enemies of Egypt. For several decades, the pharaohs waged a stubborn struggle against these people who lived in Ramses II, having ascended the throne, he continued the work of his predecessors. In the 4th year of his reign, the young pharaoh decided to fight the Hittites.

The first campaign was successful. The Egyptians defeated their opponents and captured the city of Berith. The Egyptian pharaoh did not want to stop there. Ramses II decided to make a second campaign against the Hittites a year later and put an end to the old enemies once and for all.

Pharaoh Trap

Ramses the Great made his second trip to Asia in the 5th year of his reign. Having gathered an army of twenty thousand, the young pharaoh set out from Memphis. The main goal of the campaign was to capture Kadesh, which was at that time the main city of the Hittites, and annex other enemy possessions to Egypt.

Ramses II is a legendary man. The reign of the pharaoh lasted more than 60 years. Over the years, he has done a lot for the prosperity and strengthening of the power of the Egyptian state. No subsequent ruler could surpass Pharaoh Ramses II.

In the 1st year of his reign, Ramses II installed his faithful Nebunenef, who had previously held the post of the first priest of the Tini god Onuris, in the vacant place of the first priest of Amun. In the 3rd year of the reign of Ramesses II, at a depth of only 6 meters, it was finally possible to find water in the gold mines in Wadi Alaki, which significantly increased gold production there.

The change of pharaohs could, as in previous times, arouse hopes among the oppressed peoples for successful uprisings. Approximately in the 2nd year of his reign, Ramesses II defeated the Sherdans - representatives of one of the “peoples of the sea”. It is believed that they subsequently settled the island of Sardinia. Egyptian inscriptions speak of enemy ships and their defeat during sleep. The captured Sherdans were apparently included in the ranks of the Egyptian army, since later images show them fighting in Syria and Palestine in the front ranks of the warriors of Ramesses II.

Presumably, in the 4th year of his reign, Ramesses II undertook his first campaign in Western Asia, aimed at subduing sea ​​coast Palestine and Phenicia. During this campaign, Ramesses II took the city of Berith and reached the Eleutheros River (El Kebira), where he erected his memorial stele. This event became the reason for the declaration of war between Ramesses II and the Hittite king Muwatalli.

In the spring of the 5th year of his reign, Ramesses II, having gathered an army of more than 20 thousand, set out from the border fortress of Chilu on a second campaign. After 29 days, four Egyptian military formations, named after Amon, Ra, Ptah and Set, set up camp one march from Kadesh. One of the formations, called “well done” in Canaanite, and composed by the pharaoh, apparently from the most selected warriors, had even earlier been sent along the sea coast for subsequent reunification with the main forces at Kadesh. The next morning, the Egyptian army began crossing the Orontes at Shabtun. Misled by Hittite spies sent to the Egyptian camp, who assured that the Hittites had retreated far to the north, to Aleppo, Ramesses II, with one detachment of “Amun” that had already crossed, without waiting for the rest of the army to cross, moved to Kadesh.

In the plain across the river, to the northeast of the fortress, hidden by the city, the entire army of the Hittite kingdom and its allies stood in full combat readiness. According to Egyptian sources, the Hittite army consisted of 3,500 chariots with three warriors each and 17,000 infantry. Total there were approximately 28 thousand warriors. In addition to the Hittite warriors, almost all the Anatolian and Syrian kingdoms were represented in it: Arzawa, Lucca, Kizzuwatna, Aravanna, Euphrates Syria, Karchemish, Halab, Ugarit, Nukhashshe, Kadesh, nomadic tribes and so on. Each of these diverse allies came under the command of their rulers and, therefore, it was extremely difficult for Muwatalli to control this entire crowd.

Having crossed the Orontes, the “Ra” formation did not wait for the “Ptah” and “Set” units, which had not yet even approached the ford, and went north to meet the pharaoh. Meanwhile, south of Kadesh, out of sight of the Egyptians, the bulk of the enemy's charioteer army was concentrated. The crossing of his chariots across the Orontes was obviously carried out in advance and went unnoticed by the Egyptians. The "Ra" formation in marching order, not ready for battle, was attacked by enemy chariots and was scattered with lightning speed, and the chariots fell on the "Amon" formation, which was engaged in setting up the camp. Some of the Egyptian soldiers fled, and some, along with the pharaoh, were surrounded. The Egyptians suffered huge losses. Ramesses II managed to rally his guard around himself and take up a perimeter defense. Ramesses II was saved from inevitable defeat only by the fact that the Hittite infantry was unable to cross rough waters Oronte did not come to the aid of her chariots. A happy accident - the unexpected appearance on the battlefield of another detachment of Egyptians, the same one that was walking along the seashore, somewhat straightened the situation, and the Egyptians were able to hold out until the evening, when the "Bird" detachment approached Kadesh. The Hittites were forced to retreat beyond the Orontes, receiving, in turn, damage while crossing the river. In this battle, two brothers of the Hittite king Muwatalli, several military leaders and many other noble Hittites and their allies died. The next day, in the morning, Ramesses II again attacked the Hittite army, but it was not possible to break the enemy in this battle either. In any case, not a single source says that the pharaoh took possession of Kadesh. The bloodless opponents were clearly unable to defeat each other. The Hittite king Muwatalli offered the pharaoh a truce, which gave Ramesses the opportunity to retreat with honor and return safely to Egypt.

The Battle of Kadesh greatly impressed Ramesses II, who ordered the story of this event and grandiose panoramic “illustrations” of it to be reproduced on the walls of many temple complexes, including Abydos, Karnak, Luxor, Ramesseum and Abu Simbel.

In the 8th year of his reign, Ramesses II again invaded Western Asia. The result of this campaign was the capture of Dapur. With the assistance of his sons, Ramesses II besieged and took this strategically important fortress. Ramesses II considered the capture of Dapur, depicted on the walls of the Ramesseum, to be one of his most glorious deeds.

By the time of Ramses II, the military art of the Egyptians had stepped far ahead compared to the time of slow tactics, who preferred to starve out fortified cities and often, having failed to achieve their goal, devastated the surrounding gardens and fields in impotent anger. The wars of Ramses II turned into a continuous capture of large and small fortresses by assault. A list of cities he captured in Asia is preserved on the wall of the Ramesseum.

With the death of Muwatalli, which occurred approximately in the 10th year of the reign of Ramesses II, the climate of relations between Egypt and Hatti warmed noticeably. Muwatalli's son, Urhi-Teshub, inherited the throne under the name Mursili III, but was soon deposed by his uncle Hattusili III, who made peace with Egypt. Perhaps the reconciliation of the rivals was gradually facilitated by the formation of a strong Assyrian power and the associated fears.

At the beginning of the winter of the 21st year of the reign of Ramesses II, the ambassador of Hattusili III, accompanied by an Egyptian translator, arrived in the capital of the pharaoh Per-Ramesses and presented the Egyptian king, on behalf of his master, with a silver tablet with the cuneiform text of the treaty, certified by seals depicting the king and queen of Hatti in the embrace of their deities . The treaty was translated into Egyptian and subsequently immortalized on the walls of Karnak and the Ramesseum. The text of the treaty that the pharaoh sent to Hattusili in exchange for his tablet was also cuneiform, compiled in the then international Akkadian language. Fragments of it are preserved in the Boğazköy archive. Basically, the treaty was aimed at ensuring the mutual inviolability of possessions and providing assistance, infantry and chariots, in the event of an attack on one of the contracting parties or an uprising of subjects. Both sides committed to handing over the defectors. This was the first diplomatically formalized agreement in world history that has survived to this day.

The period of active military campaigns of Ramesses II came to an end. The time of active diplomatic correspondence between the two countries began. Messages from Ramses II, his family and the vizier Paser, addressed to King Hattusili III and his wife Puduhepa, were discovered in the Boghazkey archive. Egyptian doctors were often sent to the Hittite court. In the 34th year of his reign, Ramesses II married the eldest daughter of Hattusili, who took the Egyptian name Maathornefrura. The princess became not one of the king’s minor wives, as usually happened with foreigners at the Egyptian court, but the “great” wife of the pharaoh. The meeting of the future queen was arranged very solemnly. The princess was accompanied by her father's warriors. In front of her were carried a lot of silver, gold and copper, slaves and horses stretched “endlessly”, whole herds of bulls, goats and sheep moved. From the Egyptian side, the princess was accompanied by the “royal son of Kush.” The daughter of the king of Hatti "was brought to his majesty, and his majesty liked her." On the reliefs of the stele at Abu Simbel, which tells about this event, Hattusili III is depicted accompanying his daughter to Egypt. Indeed, a letter from Ramesses II was discovered in the Boghazkoy archive inviting his father-in-law to visit Egypt, but whether such a trip was carried out is not known for certain. The second daughter of Hattusilis III also became the wife of Ramesses. The exact date of this marriage is unknown, but it happened shortly before the death of the Hittite king, approximately in the 42nd year of the reign of Ramesses II.

Ramses II was characterized by extremely extensive construction activities. The war with the Hittites prompted him to move his residence to the northeastern part of the Delta. Perhaps on the site of Avaris the city of Per-Ramesses was built, later Tanis, which turned into a large and flourishing city with magnificent temple. Above the huge pylons of this temple towered the monolithic colossus of Ramesses made of granite, more than 27 m high and weighing 900 tons. This colossus was visible for many kilometers from the flat plain surrounding the Delta.

However, during construction, Ramesses II often destroyed the country's ancient monuments. Thus, the buildings of the VI dynasty pharaoh Teti served as material for his temple in Memphis. He plundered the pyramid of Senwosret II at El Lahun, destroyed the paved square around it and smashed to pieces the magnificent structures that stood in this square, with the aim of obtaining material for his own temple at Heracleopolis. To obtain the necessary space for the expansion of the Luxor Temple, Ramesses II tore down the exquisite granite prayer house of Thutmose III and used the materials obtained in this way.

Ramesses II died in the 67th year of his reign and was survived by twelve of his sons, among whom two: the military leader Amenherkhepeshef and Khaemuas, the high priest of the god Ptah in Memphis, carried the title of heir to the throne for a particularly long time. The Egyptian throne was inherited by the thirteenth son of King Merneptah, the son of Queen Isitnofret I, who was a middle-aged man when he came to power. He was the first of several heirs of Ramesses II, short reigns which ended the 19th Dynasty.

Not a single Egyptian pharaoh was so firmly imprinted in the minds of his contemporaries and the memory of his descendants as Ramses II. He lived for 90 years and during the 60 years of his reign he went down in history as a pharaoh-builder, leaving behind buildings that immortalized his name.

Fpharaoh Ramses II

Having ascended the throne after his father Seti I, Ramses II soon ordered the names of the former pharaohs to be chipped off and painted over on all monuments. The Egyptians were supposed to know and remember only him. Even at Karnak, the magnificent temple building dedicated to the god Amun, the ambitious pharaoh ordered all traces left by his crowned predecessors to be erased and replaced with his own name. At the coronation ceremony he was simultaneously proclaimed pharaoh and high priest all of Egypt.

At first, power over the religious consciousness of his subjects was more important to Ramses than anything else, and he made sure that the oracle at the solemn procession in honor of the festival of the god Amun “prompted” him to appoint his favorite Nebvenenef as the chief priest of Karnak.

At the very beginning of his reign, Ramses II, who did not yet have any merits, ordered to be called the Benefactor of the country, the Chosen One of Amun and the Invincible Hero. In the fourth year of his reign, Ramesses II wanted to gain the glory of a commander. Over the course of several generations of Egyptian pharaohs, their main enemies were considered Hittites. Ramesses II managed to win the first battle with the Hittites. Inspired by success, he decided to end the war a year later with the final defeat of the enemy. At the head of an army of twenty thousand, Pharaoh moved from Memphis to the city of Kadesh. He wanted to capture the main city of the Hittite king and annex all his possessions to his kingdom. Near the city of Kadesh, in the territory of modern Syria, two armies clashed in a fierce battle. The Battle of Kadesh is described in detail in the ancient chronicles of the peoples who fought each other. This is the first battle in world history, about which numerous documentary information has been preserved.

Cunning enemy spies discovered the advance of the Egyptian troops, and during the battle the Hittites managed to lure Ramesses II into a trap with a small detachment of personal guards. Egyptian soldiers who happened to be nearby barely had time to rescue their “invincible” commander from shameful captivity.

The battle was stubborn and long. The Egyptians finally retreated and went home, which is why in the Hittite chronicles the battle of Kadesh is called a great victory for the Hittites.
And Ramesses II sent a report to his capital: “I defeated them all. I am alone because my infantry and war chariots have abandoned me to my fate.” By his order, the inglorious defeat was declared an outstanding victory, and the pharaoh ordered himself to be honored as the greatest commander and winner.
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