Ramses II

Rule	1279-1213 BC,
Predecessor	Father Seti I
Mother	Tuya
Nomen (meaning of name)	Ra Has Fashioned Him
Dynasty	19th
Consorts	Nefertari Istnofret
Capital city	Avaris (Pi-Ramesse)
Achievements	Peace treaty with Hittites in 1258 BC. Great construction projects in Karnak temple and Abu Simbel
Burial	Valley of Kings - KV 7 Reburied in Deir el Bahri cache
Succesor	Son Merenptah out of Istnofret

According to tradition, he was the Pharaoh of Egypt in the biblical Exodus story.

Ramses began a series of wars against the Syrians, he fought to regain the territory in Africa and western Asia that Egypt had held during the 16th and 15th centuries BC. His principal opponents were the Hittites, a powerful people of Asia Minor, against whom he waged a long war. The major battle of this war was fought in 1274 BC at Kadesh, in northern Syria, and showed Ramses as the winner, but neither power achieved a conclusive victory.

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 remaining years of his rule were distinguished by the construction of monuments such as:
1) The rock-hewn temple of Abu Simbel
2) The great hypostyle hall in the temple of Amun at al-Karnak
3) The mortuary temple at Thebes, known as The Ramesseum
4) Completing his father Seti I temple of Abydos
5) Major expansions in the Luxor Temple

In 1995 his family mausoleum was discovered, the largest tomb ever found in Egypt in which the sons of Ramses II were buried. He had as many as 100 children of whom about 50 of his 52 sons are thought to be buried there.

Ramses chief queen was the beautiful Nefertari. She died in the 24th year of his reign, and was placed in a beautifully decorated tomb in the Valley of the Queens in western Thebes.

The period of his rule was characterized by great luxury, increased slavery, and the growth of a mercenary army, all of which led to the final decline of Egyptian civilization.