Person1303 BC – 1213 BC
Ramesses II
Also called: Ramses II, Ramesses the Great
Nineteenth-Dynasty pharaoh (r. 1279–1213 BC) who fought at Kadesh, made peace with the Hittites and built Abu Simbel
Reigning for over sixty years, he was one of the longest-ruling pharaohs of Egypt. He proclaimed his valour by carving the Battle of Kadesh on temple walls, and sealed the peace by marrying a Hittite princess. He left vast monuments throughout Egypt, including the temples of Abu Simbel, the Ramesseum at Thebes and the completion of the Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak. He also founded a new capital, Pi-Ramesses, in the Nile Delta. His mummy was found in 1881 in the royal cache at Deir el-Bahari.