Ancient Egyptian History

1650 BCE to 343 BCE - The Second Intermediate Period, The New Kingdom and The Late Period

Rameses II (1279 to 1212 BCE) may have only been twenty years old when ascended to the throne after the death of his father. Like many other Pharaohs before him Rameses decided to best demonstrate his glory through the construction of a new capital city. The city, Per-Rameses, was fairly successful as it was well placed in the Delta region to defend against threats from the east and west. Rameses had an extensive building agenda; besides building a new capital city constructed various monuments and statues to his own glory. Despite the fact that he constructed the most monuments of any Egyptian Pharaoh, he still needed to steal credit from other Pharaohs by placing his name on their monuments. In the fourth year of his reign Rameses began his first military campaign. Within this campaign Rameses fought his famous battle at Kadesh. Kadesh has always been a city coveted by Egyptian rulers. Several Pharaohs in the past had taken Kadesh, but its relative distance from Egypt made it extremely difficult to defend, thus it was often lost rather quickly. In the fifth year of his rule, Rameses launched an attack against Kadesh. At the time of the attack the city was under the control of the Hittite. The Hittite king, Muwatallis, planned a trap for Rameses. He sent two Bedouin spies to the Egyptian camp to inform Rameses that King Muwatallis had fled out of fear of the Egyptian army. Rameses believed the tale and advanced on the city in haste, allowing his troops to fall out of formation. Rameses division reached the city first and had to wait for the others to arrive. While they were waiting, they camp upon two Hittite soldiers. After beating the soldiers for information, Rameses learned that he had been tricked. Rameses quickly tried to bring the forces he had back into formation, but it was too late. The Hittites poured out of the city scattering Rameses army. Only his elite guard remained. Rameses and his elite guard fought heroically until they were rescued by a division that had been sent along the coast, and were able to make their escape.

What then occurred was a repetition of the battle of Megiddo, only with the roles reversed. The Hittite army allowed the Egyptians to escape as they turned to plunder the Egyptian camp. The Egyptian divisions that Rameses had sped ahead of soon arrived and forced the Hittites to retreat back to the city. Neither side won a clear victory. The next day, Rameses reconstituted his army and attacked the Hittites. The Hittites outnumber the Egyptians, but the Egyptians had more chariots. The battle was inconclusive and an armistice was called. Rameses and his armies the departed from the field after the armistice was declared. Egyptian power would reach the heights necessary again to attempt to besiege Kadesh. Despite failing to meet the goal of his campaign, Kadesh, Rameses employed his propaganda machine to turn what was essentially a defeat into a glorious victory. On his way back to Egypt, Rameses was able to take advantage of the death of King Muwatallis of the Hittite Empire to seize some Syrian and Palestinian cities. These cities would not remain Egyptian conquests for long. When Rameses returned to Egypt, he did so empty-handed. Though he utilized his propaganda machine to turn his defeats into great victories.

In the twenty-first year of his reign, hostilities between Egyptian and Hittite Empire end with a peace treaty. This was an important peace alliance for Rameses as it secured his borders to the north against a very powerful foe. Though by the twenty-first year of his reign, Rameses conflicts in the East were solved, he still had the Libyans and Nubians to deal with. Libyans raiders were once again attacking the Delta region. In response Rameses built a series of forts in the Delta region to protect against Libyan incursions. In the south the Nubians rebelled sometime between the fifteenth and twentieth year of Rameses reign. Like the Pharaohs before him, Rameses reprisals were harsh. In the last few years of his reign, Rameses had no need to go military campaign. All of his borders were secure, and his alliance with the Hittites brought stability to the region. During this time the Pharaoh was able to dedicate his time to building monuments. Rameses died in 1212 BCE, year sixty-seven of his reign, making him the second longest ruling Egyptian monarch, after Pepi II.

Merenptah (1212 to 1202 BCE), Rameses thirteenth son, was already an old man when he came to the throne. Scholars estimate he was somewhere in his late forties, year fifties. Merenptah’s greatest achievement was his defense of Egypt in the wake of the onslaught of the Sea Peoples. The Sea Peoples, as mentioned, were not a race of people, but rather a collection of displaced peoples. The Sea Peoples seemed to have allied with Meryry, the king of Libya, in order to attack Egypt. Meryry seems to have wanted to make Egypt his permanent home, as he brought his entire court with him in his attack on the Delta region. Merenptah, was not blind to the Libyan kings plans, and have begun building an army to counter his force. Merenptah took the initiative and led his troops against Meryry’s convoy. The two forces met somewhere near the Libyan border. The battle resulted in an Egyptian victory, thousands of males were killed and thousands of female prisoners were taken as slaves. The Nubians had been in correspondence with Meryry and had agreed to revolt when the Libyans and Seas Peoples attacked. Without the support of the Libyans and Sea Peoples, the revolt was easily crushed.

After Merenptah’s death in 1202 BCE, his advisor Amenmesse (1202 to 1199 BCE) became Pharaoh. It seems likely that Amenmesse was not the rightful ruler. It is likely that he used his position and influence to usurp power from the rightful ruler. Scholars debate on whom they think the rightful ruler was. Some was in was another son of Merenptah; others say it was the next Pharaoh and son of Merenptah, Seti II. It is quite possible that there was an armed struggle for power between Seti II and Amenmesse. Since Seti’s line continued, it is obvious that he was the winner of this conflict, if there was one. This period of transition seems to have worsened the problems that were already afflicting Egypt. Even during the successful reigns of Rameses II and Merenptah, Egypt’s power was already beginning to wane. The last of great Pharaohs to rule Egypt would be Rameses III (1182 to 1151 BCE). There were several Pharaohs that ruled between Seti II and Rameses III, but little is known about their reigns except for the fact that Egyptian power during the period continued to wane.

Rameses III liked to boast in his monuments that he had restored security and stability to Egypt. This was a false claim. Rameses struggled greatly in order to maintain his kingdom in the face of the marauding Sea Peoples. Rameses fought three major campaigns during his rule, two against the Libyans and one against the Sea Peoples. Rameses first war against the Libyans was really little more than a massive slaughter of unarmed migrants. Events had been driving people away from their homes all around the ancient world. Scholars debate today as to what caused these mass migrations of people. Some scholars suggest that the Sea People were the cause of the migrations, but the Sea People were a result of the migrations not a cause. They made have caused further migrants, but they were not the catalyst or the starting point to the Ancient Dark Ages.

In the eighth year of his reign, Rameses was faced with the challenge of defending Egypt against the Sea Peoples. At this point in time the Sea Peoples had swelled in numbers. Their extra numbers were made up of migrants who were fleeing the decaying ruins of the Mycenaean Greek Cities and the Hittite Empire. The Hittite empire had essentially vanished overnight after being struck by the Sea Peoples. Rameses showed great military skill in defending Egypt from attacks by the Sea Peoples from both land and sea. In the end the Egyptians won, driving the Sea Peoples back, but at a heavy cost of both men and resources. Directly after the attack by the Sea Peoples, the Libyans once again attacked Egypt. Despite being overwhelmed, the Egyptians were able to use their border forts to repel the Libyan attacks. Once again, this Libyan force was not so much an invading army, but people trying to desperately find a better life elsewhere. The conditions within their own country must have been wretched as to drive them to risk death or slavery at the hands of the Egyptians. Rameses, in the end saved Egypt from destruction. But he had only delayed the inevitable. Rameses was succeeded by his son, Rameses IV, in 1151 BCE. Despite showing promise, he died quickly after becoming Pharaoh. The line of successors continued, but by the time of the reign of Rameses XI Egypt was completely consumed in disorder. The tombs of the kings in secret valley had all been robbed and desecrated. At the beginning of the Twenty-First Dynasty the remaining royal mummies were taken to a more secure cache at Deir el Bahri. The Egyptologists of today owe a great deal to the priests who moved the bodies, as without their efforts were would not know nearly as much as we do about Ancient Egypt.

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