Ramesses II was the 3rd Pharaoh of Egypt's 19th Dynasty. He is considered the greatest, most famous, and most powerful Pharaoh of the "New Kingdom", the most powerful period of Ancient Egypt. His successors and the Egyptians called him "The Ruler of Rulers". He was also one of the longest-reigning rulers in the world.
Before moving on to why Ramesses II is such an important person, I would like to talk about how Ancient Egypt was governed. There was a theocratic form of government in ancient Egypt. Pharaoh was considered God's representative on earth. This belief changed over time and the pharaohs, who became stronger, declared themselves God. Thus, all state affairs had to be carried out with the permission of the Pharaoh and the Queen Mother. Another important point of the administration was the Ma'at Law, which was prepared to manage the chaos in the country. Everyone had to obey the Law of Ma'at without exception, including the Pharaoh and the Queen Mother. It was thought that if an event occurred or was decided against the Law of Ma'at, the Gods would punish Egypt and its people.
One of Ramesses II's greatest strengths was that he never broke the rules of the Law of Ma'at. He was placed on the throne by his father, Seti I, at the age of 14. In the early periods of his reign, he focused mostly on building temples, cities, and monuments. He moved the capital of the country to Pi-Ramesses, the city he founded.
In the following periods, The Hittites, who tried to take advantage of Ramesses II’s youth and inexperience, caused chaos on the Syrian borders. Ramesses II gathered his army and began preparations for war. The war, which would later go down in history as the Battle of Kadesh, was fought to take back Kadesh, a city in Syria, from the Hittites. However, due to the complacency of the Egyptian army and the incorrect intelligence received, the Egyptians could not achieve the victory they expected.
Since Ramesses II. had predicted that this would happen, he had a base built in the northeast of the country. This base has become an important base, both in a strategic location for the transition to Syria and in a position to facilitate intelligence for the Egyptians. In 1274 BC, he gathered the four armies of Amon, Ra, Ptah and Seth and set out for the Syrian city of Kadesh. The Egyptians consisted of approximately 20 thousand fully equipped people and war chariots that were ahead of the technology of the time.
During the Kadesh War Amon's branch army, led by Ramesses II, was located far from the main army. With the intelligence they received from near the city of Kadesh, the Amon branch army planned to attack the Hittites at an unexpected moment. To achieve this, they camped in a forest area near Kadesh. But there was something the Egyptians did not take into account. That was that the Hittites were as ready for war as the Egyptians. The Hittites had more advanced materials and more soldiers than Egypt.
When the army of Amon under the command of Ramesses II realized that the intelligence they had previously received was wrong, the Hittites had already caught them unprepared near the Ani River. Many armies, including the Ra corps, were helplessly damaged. Very few Egyptians could reach Ramesses II. The Hittite army, led by Mutavalli II, followed the fleeing soldiers and defeated them during the Kadesh War. They reached the camp where Ramesses II was.
One of the bloodiest wars of the age took place. Ramesses II not only fought but also managed to equalize the situation thanks to the reserve army he sent by sea, seeing that they would be defeated beforehand. In Egyptian sources, they wrote that Ramesses II received the blessing of the Sun God Ra and turned into a god on the battlefield. Thanks to the military genius of Ramesses II and the efforts of the Egyptian soldiers, the Egyptians managed to push back the Hittites. The retreating Hittites suffered great losses while trying to cross the Ani River, and the army was almost destroyed. Thus, Egypt ended the war with a great victory against all disadvantages.
When Mutavalli II could not accept this humiliating defeat and continued to create unrest, the Treaty of Kadesh, also known as the first agreement in history, was signed in 1286 BC. Thanks to this Treaty, peace and tranquility continued between Egypt and the Hittites for a certain time.
Aging over time. Ramesses handed over the throne to his son Kha, but upon Kha's untimely death, it was left to Merenptah, the second son of Ramesses. In the second year of his reign, Ramesses died under the acacia tree he planted in the Rammesseum, the Temple of Millions of Years, next to his friend and Chief Secretary Ameni, who helped him throughout his reign.