Egypt is probably one of the oldest civilizations having emerged from the Nile Valley around 3100 BC. Before the Pharaohs, Egypt consisted of two countries, Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. Upper Egypt was the southern part, south of Thebes. Lower Egypt included the Nile delta and the cities of Memphis and Alexandria. The settlements of Egypt seems to have originated in the south, a land of extensive green plains and forests. These turned to desert with a change in climate and the population gradually moved north up the fertile Nile valley. Historians divide the history of Egypt into three main periods or Kingdoms. The time between unification of the country in about 3100 BC and the start of the Old Kingdom is known as the Protodynastic Period.
King Ramesses 11
Three Kingdoms of Egypt
The three Kingdoms of the Nile
- The Old Kingdom 2686 - 2181 BC
- The Middle Kingdom 1991 - 1786 BC
- The New Kingdom 1567 - 1085 BC
The three Kingdoms were separated by periods of foreign domination and civil disorder.
Ramesses 11
Harem for a boy
No other pharaoh of Egypt can compare with Ramesses 11 for achievement and self-glorification. At the age of 10, he was already a captain in the army and had his own harem. By the time he died in 1213 BC, over 90 years old, he had ruled for 66 years ( longer than Brittain's Queen Victoria), fathered 67 daughters and 111 sons.
Luxor Temple Colonnade
Luxor Temple
Ramesseum Thebes
The pinnacle of Egyptian art
The vast tomb complex is known as the Ramesseum at Thebes, the exquisite temples of Abu Simbel and added to those at Luxor and the hall at Karnak, the complex at Abydos and literally hundreds of other temples, monuments and buildings were all constructed by Ramesses.
Many historians consider his reign the pinnacle of Egyptian art and culture and the famous tomb of Nefertari with its wall paintings is cited as clear evidence of the truth of this claim.
The great battle of Kadesh in about 1274, in which he claimed to have subdued the Hittites, is celebrated in a gigantic relief on one of the walls on his mortuary temples on the Nile's west bank at Thebes.
Queen Nefertari
Ramesses first wife
Queen Nefertari was Ramesses first wife and favorite queen. Many drawings of Nefertari appear on temple walls and sculptures throughout his reign, even though it appears as if she died fairly early in their marriage, probably in childbirth. Her tomb was discovered looted, but it was a work of art in construction and decoration.
Obelisk in Paris in the Place de la Concorde
Ramesses glory describe on the Obelisk, now in France
On the Obelisk which is now in the Place de la Concorde, Paris, he had his glory described in these words: 'Ramesses, conqueror of all foreign peoples, master of all crown-bearers, Ramesses who fought the millions, bids the whole world subdue itself to his power.....'
Massive fallen statue of Ramesses
Faded glory
The massive fallen statue of Ramesses at the Ramesseum of Thebes probably inspired English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley's sonnet of faded glory. Called Ozymandias (Ozymandias was the Greek rendering of one of the pharaoh's names: User-ma'at-re), the poem ends with the lines:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings;
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.'
