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. .
One of Ramses's greatest so-called achievements was at the famous battle at Kadesh. Ramses marched 20 000 troops into North Syria to defend his empire against the Hittite invaders. He made a costly decision to believe the location of the Hittite army from a Hittite captive. Ramses and his assistant supposedly attacked the entire Hittite army and won. In fact the battle was a stalemate. This would be a tale told over and over each time more elaborate than the last.
About 20 years after, Ramses and the Hittite king formed the world's first international peace treaty. This event was celebrated by the marriage of Ramses to the Hittite king's eldest daughter. .
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 his own children. By far his favorite queen was the beautiful Nefratari, mother to his 1st son. He dedicated many monuments to her and built a statue of her, next to him and the same size to shown his deep admiration of her- a first in Egyptian history.
