Born to Seti 1st and grandson to Ramses 1st , in 1303 BCE on the Eastern Nile Delta, Ramses ll. was the second born of the great pharaoh. Highly favored by his father, her was appointed captain in his father’s army, at the age of 12. Ramses inherited the position of pharaoh in 1279 BCE, 4 years before his father died. He became the 3rd pharoh of the 19th dynasty in the New Kingdom of Egypt.
During his reign he became obsessed with building colossal monuments. He built a great city called Pi-Ramses, temples in Abydos and Abu Simbel, the Ramesseum and added to and restored temples at Karnak and Luxor. Ramse’s obsession stemmed from his desire to live eternally. He thought that the more things he had his name on the more recognition he would receive from the gods.
He built his eternal temple at Abu Simbel next to Nefratarti’s directly facing the east so the sun god, Amon- Ra could smile upon them daily. Much of the remainder of his life was spent preparing for life after death. Like other pharaohs he chose his final resting space in the Valley of the Kings.
Ramses 2nd died in 1213 BCE at the age of 91. Hundreds of years later his tomb and body were looted by greedy tomb robbers. Ramses lay alone in death until his body was recovered and placed in a plain wooden coffin at the Museum of Cairo, in Egypt.
Ramses was famous for the large amount of wives and children he had. It is estimated that Ramses had at least 90 wives and over 110 children. Supposedly Ramses accidentally married one of his own daughters because he could not keep track of who was
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