Ramses Usermaatre Setepenre
Ramses II Usermaatre Setepenre, son of king Sethi I, was one of the longest reigning pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. He reigned 67 years (roughly from 1290-1224 BC), in the beginning as coregent with his father, and lived for more than 80 years, which was very rare in those days. During his life he made quite a reputation as a builder and a warrior, but also as a ladies man. He had 5 or 6 main wives, foremost of all being Nefertari, but is known to have had more than 100 children with all of his wives. Already in Ancient Egypt people seems to have made fun of this fact, since the contemporary and famous Turin Papyrus features erotic scenes involving a pharaoh --probably Ramses II-- and several women.
Ramses II is, however, best known for all the buildings he had constructed in his name across the country. Especially the monumental temples of Karnak (near Luxor) and Abu Simbel (in the south of the country in so-called Nubia), and his mortuary temple The Ramesseum (on the West Bank near Luxor) give evidence of his love for grandeur. In all of his monuments he had his name cartouche and texts engraved so deep that no successor would be able to remove it.
Ramses' energetic building activities more or less led to a degrading of Egyptian art as far as the engraving of texts and images on temple walls was concerned, for he demanded the monuments to be erected with greater speed than usual. Otherwise carefully engraved texts and images with many beautiful details were now made more superficially, a practice which was unfortunately continued by his successors.
*Picture*
Most famous of his military engagements is the Battle of Kadesh against the Hittites (from Western Asia), with whom the Egyptians had been struggling for many years. He seems to have escaped defeatby pure luck, as his main force --the pharaoh himself commanding-- was ambushed by the Hittites, and was only saved just in time by reinforcements while retreating. Both sides claimed the victory in this battle, but it seems more likely to have ended in a status quo. Ramses II recorded 'his' victory on several monuments, showing him slaying the Hittites in person (see image above). The problems between Egyptians and Hittites were finally settled several years later when Ramses married a Hittite princess.
*Picture*
After he died, Ramses was buried in the famous royal necropolis of the Valley of the Kings, located in the hills on the west bank of the Nile opposite modern town of Luxor.
Ramses was born 1303 BCE to his mother Queen Tuya and father Pharaoh Seti I. Ramses became ruler over Egypt for 66 years and 2 months, living to be around 90 years old. When Ramses was a child he experienced several tragic and important events within his life. The first event was when his grandfather became crowned Pharaoh. His grandfather died two years later making his father to be crowned Pharaoh. Ramses than became “First commander of the Army” (1) at age 10 by his father. Ramses was trained by his father and by the many generals on how to command an army. When Ramses was only 15 his brother died and he was pronounced Pr...
Pyramids, gold, the Nile, hieroglyphics, gods and goddesses…no matter how much we know about it, we all see one of these things when we picture Egypt. However, this image is not complete without the Pharaoh. Not much in Egypt was. So to be considered “The Last Great Pharaoh of Egypt” is quite an honor, an honor that Ramesses III carries. A ruler in the time of the New Kingdom, he gave Egypt a few more years of glory before it’s decline.
Ramses I was chosen as heir to King Horemheb, the last king of the Eighteenth Dynasty after serving as general, vizier, Commander of the Army of the Ruler of Two Lands, High Priest of all the Gods and Hereditary Prince of the Entire Land. King Horemheb chose Ramses as his successor as he had no children of his own, he too was chosen by the previous pharaoh. Ramses I not only had a son, Seti, a soldier who was married to Tuya, also from a military family, but a grandson, also called Rameses as well. A strong military background was important and all of these factors probably helped in Horemheb’s decision. Having sons and grandsons ensured Rameses of having heirs to carry on the new dynasty.
King Menkaure and Queen Khamerenebty ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom in ancient Egypt, circa 2533-2515 BCE. The 4th Dynasty is associated with the Great Pyramids of Giza. The increasing wealth of the ruling families of the period is reflected in their large, elaborate royal portraits. The statue of King Menkaure and his wife, standing 4’8” high, was found in the Valley Temple of the pyramid of Menkaure at Giza. It is a good example of Old Kingdom royal tomb sculpture, although it is the first known work depicting a couple. The pair statue of Menkaure and Khamerenebty exemplifies both dignity and marital affection.
Ramesses II is particularly well known due to the exceptional longevity of his reign and his military campaigns, which he commemorated frequently in his massive campaign of construction projects. The details of his reign can help to shed some light on this cube statue. One of the more unusual aspects of the sculpture is that it was altered after its initial production; both the inscribed hieroglyphics and the side-lock were later additions to a preexisting statue. The reworking of old art is a relatively common phenomenon in Ancient Egyptian culture and there are several possible possible explanations for this distinctive feature. One possible explanation for the refurbishment is that the sculpture was originally made for the prince and was updated at a later date to reflect a change in his status. This hypothesis may explain the addition of the hieroglyphic text, which does give his military titles, but it has significantly less explanatory power with regard to the side-lock. Because the it is a symbol of the royal youths and thus would have been associated with the prince from a young age, it would would be strange if he were to have been originally depicted with a round headdress with the side-lock added
Ramesses II, also known as “Ramesses the Great” was the third pharaoh of the 19th dynasty in Egypt. He came to power following the death of his father, Seti I who was pharaoh of Egypt. Ramesses II had a lengthy reign of 66 years from 1279 BC to 1213 BC, and during those years, he was regarded as one of the most powerful pharaoh’s of Egypt. Ramesses II can attribute the attainment of his power due to his use of propaganda, as evidenced by his often ostentatious displays and exaggerations of his achievements, along with the widespread locations of his propaganda and his use of propaganda in monumental buildings.
The expansion of the political and economical power during the New kingdom, led to the devotion of resources to the religious architecture; numerous new temples were constructed while the pre-existing temples were renovated. Individual Pharaohs endeavored to out do their ancestors, not only in the construction of their own mortuary temples, but also in the establishment of worship temples of their deities. Kings of this period abandoned the pyramid complexity of the earlier ages and constructed their tombs in the Valley of the Kings well away from their mortuary temples due to the increase of robbers; therefore a standardized plan became default for both the worship and mortuary temples. Because of this movement, I believe that the divine and mortuary spheres became entwined in both theory and practice. During the 18th dynasty, temple construction reached its highest point under Amenhotep III and Tuthmosis II; it was the art of the Middle kingdom that they wished to imitate. Hatshepsut temple at Deir el Bahari compared to its neighboring temple of Mentuhotep III, are great examples of the return to ancient architectural resources. ( image 4&5) show the direct inspiration based on the replica of the previous kingdom’s architecture. Some of the imitated elements were the long porticoes with squared pillars rising in terraces, wide ascending ramps, the entrances colonnaded with the sanctuary, the great use of papyrus columns and above all the strict harmony of the building with its setting. Although there was a conscious desire to return to the disciplines of the former period, yet development also took place. The attempt to achieve greater effect of lightness became dominant as well as the extra care given to the decoration and t...
Two main devices used in Egyptian art from the fourth dynasty, that also help classify it, are a strive for naturalism and the use of sculpture in the round. In addition to the large burial monuments being built, portraiture became quite popular at this time in history. Paintings featuring humans used their own form of "sculpture in the round" by painting in ...
Ramses II (reigned 1279-1212 BC), ancient Egyptian king, third ruler of the 19th dynasty, the son of Seti I. During the early part of his reign Ramses fought to reign the territory in Africa and Western Asia that Egypt had held during the 16th and 15th centuries BC. His principle opponents were the Hittites, a powerful people of Asia Minor, against whom he waged a long war upon. The major battle of this war was fought in 1274 at Kadesh, in Northern Syria, was hailed by Ramses as such a great triumph. In 1258 BC a treaty was signed whereby the contested lands were divided and Ramses agreed to marry the daughter of the Hittite king.
The ancient Greek was one of the most well-known civilization throughout history. This civilization was known for their history, philosophy, religion, and specially sculpture. One of the dominant ones was their sculpture. By studying the ancient Greek sculpture, one can see that there were different shifts. Historians tell us that these different shifts took place during the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, the Dark Ages, the Archaic, the Classical, and the Hellenistic Age. The three major shifts in ancient Greek sculptural development that we need to analyze are the Archaic, the Classical, and the Hellenistic sculpture.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ‘Egyptian Art’, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Egyptian Art. New Series, Vol. 41, No. 3, Egyptian Art (Winter, 1983-1984): pp. 1+3-56
Ramses the Great was also known for his fighting. In 1275 B.C., he went into battle with about 2,000 men. It was about noon on a spring day, and Ramses II was encamped with his army near the city of Kadesh in Syria. He and his army were planning a surprise attack on the Hittites. While Ramses was waiting for his army to assemble, Hittite chariots showed up out of nowhere and attacked. Frightened, the Egyptian forces fled and left Ramses the Great to face the enemy alone. Luckily, he escaped with his life.
Hatshepsut was born to Ahmose and Tuthmosis I, who was pharaoh at the time. Tuthmosis I and Ahmose also gave birth to two sons, both of whom died, leaving Hatshepsut as the only heir to the throne. It is unknown whether her parents raised her to become the pharaoh or not, but she grew up and married her half-brother, Tuthmosis II. Marrying within your family was a regular practice in royal families because it kept blood lines intact. Tuthmosis II and Hatshepsut had a daughter together named Neferure. Hatshepsut’s father died when she was very young, probably around 15 years old. Tuthmosis II took over, but only ruled for about three or four years, when he died from what is believed to be a skin disease. After his death, Tuthmosis the III, Hatshepsut’s stepson, was still too young to rule, which led to her ruling as Queen’s Regent. Her charismatic personality and group of followers led to her fully becoming pharaoh about seven years into Tuthmosis III’s rule. While having a female pharaoh was not unprecedented, Hatshepsut was the first to take on the f...
The pharaoh in ancient Egypt was the political and religious leader of the people and held the titles ‘Lord of the Two Lands’ and ‘High Priest of every Temple’.
For quite some time now I have taken a great interest in Ancient Egyptian artwork and the history behind it. The Ancient Egyptian were once a powerful civilization, they left behind thousands of ancient enriched artifacts. Religion played a significant role in Ancient Egyptian artwork and had a huge influence on their civilization. The vast majority of Ancient Egypt artwork illustrates images of gods, goddesses, and rulers known as pharaohs. The Ancient Egyptians paid close attention to balance, proportions and rich details. If a person were to closely look at Egyptian art it would be clear to see that they used vibrant shapes with simple figures and smooth spaces of color assisting in creating a sense of direction and poise in