Earlier wives, among others, of this king were Isetnofret and Maathorneferure, Princess of Hatti. The most memorable of Ramesses' wives was Nefertari.

Ramesses' older brother (perhaps Neb-en-khaset-neb) predeceased him before adulthood. Ramesses II was the third king of the 19th dynasty, and the second son of Seti I and his Queen Tuya. Tablet of treaty between Hattusili III of Hatti and Ramesses II of Egypt, at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum. Some scholars believe this is possibly a closer approximation of the actual vocalization of the Egyptian king's name. In the Hittite copy of the above-mentioned peace treaty with Hattusilis, the Pharaoh's name appears as Washmuaria Shatepnaria Riamashesha Maiamana. It translates as 'Powerful one of Ma'at, the Justice of Ra is Powerful, chosen of Ra, Ra bore him, beloved of Amun'. These names are transliterated as wsr-m3‘t-r‘–stp-n-r‘ r‘-ms-sw–mry-ỉ-mn, which is usually written as Usermaatra-setepenra Ramessu-meryamen. The two most important, his prenomen (regnal name) and nomen (birth name) are shown in Egyptian hieroglyphs above to the right.

If he became king in 1279 BC as most Egyptologists today believe, he would have assumed the throne on BC based on his known accession date of III Shemu day 27.Īs with most pharaohs, Ramesses had a number of royal names. Ancient Greek writers such as Herodotus attributed his accomplishments to the semi-mythical Sesostris, and he is traditionally believed to have been the Pharaoh of the Exodus due to a tradition started by Eusebius of Caesarea. He was once said to have lived to be 99 years old, but it is more likely that he died in his 90th or 92nd year. He is believed to have taken the throne in his early 20s and to have ruled Egypt from 1279 BC to 1213 BC for a total of 66 years and 2 months. At age fourteen, Ramses II was appointed Prince Regent by his father. Ramesses II (also known as Ramesses the Great and alternatively transcribed as Ramses and Rameses *Riʕmīsisu) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the Nineteenth dynasty. Ramesses II: one of four external seated statues at Abu Simbel.

Pharaoh ramses ii