| Ramses II, being powerful and ambitious, was the | | | | temples at Karnak and Luxor, finished many |
| third ruler of the 19th dynasty. Perhaps most | | | | projects his father had started as well as starting |
| famous for allegedly being the pharaoh during the | | | | many more of his own. His lust for beauty and |
| Jewish exodus. | | | | power drove the Egyptians heavily into debt and |
| Ramses II, the son of Queen Tuy and Sety I | | | | thus the country suffered extreme hardships |
| was given the throne at age 20,hence he ruled | | | | because of this. |
| for 67 years. As most pharaohs, Ramses II had a | | | | I'm thinking our current government leaders must |
| large harem of wives, his favorite and most | | | | be descendants of his. |
| famous being Nefertiti. Being a pharaoh, he | | | | Being a powerful ruler with an army of over |
| seemed to have a lot of time on his hands, hence | | | | 100,000,and in an effort to reclaim Africa and |
| he fathered over 100 children. | | | | Western Asia for Egypt he attacked his |
| Being the most extravagant of known rulers and | | | | neighbors, the Nubians, Syrians and Hitites many |
| a lover of power and grand architecture, he lived | | | | times, with the most famous campaign being the |
| a life of extreme wealth and demonstrated a | | | | battle of Kadish. |
| need for divine architecture. (Not sure how one | | | | Living to the ripe old age of 90, the last decades |
| can have extreme wealth being the parent of 100 | | | | of his life he spent suffering from arthritis and |
| children), Ramses II erected more temples and | | | | walked with a hunched back. His teeth were |
| monuments than any other Egyptian pharaoh. | | | | continuously infected and much evidence points to |
| Abu Simbel, his most impressive was constructed | | | | his teeth as being the cause of death. |
| in southern Egypt on the banks of the Nile.When | | | | Being a redhead his family was associated with |
| the Aswan Dam was constructed to alleviate the | | | | the god Seth, the slayer of Osiris. Ramses II's |
| annual flooding of the Nile River, Abu Simbel was | | | | father, Seti I, means "follower of Seth." |
| disassembled stone by stone. The stones were | | | | Although his tomb, located in the Valley of Kings |
| consequently numbered, moved and | | | | was found empty and had been continuously |
| re-constructed on higher ground, where it remains | | | | looted over the years. It is now slowly being |
| today and is one of the most visited shrines in | | | | restored.Because of security reasons,his mummy |
| Egypt. | | | | has been moved several times and is one of the |
| Along with most pharaohs, he improved the | | | | best preserved ever found. |