User-Maat-Re Setep-en-Re was the throne name of Ramesses II, and means "The Justice of Re is Powerful, Chosen of Re". He is often referred to as "Ramesses the great", because so many of his cultural contributions were measured on the grandest of scales.
Ramesses II had the longest reign of any Pharaoh in New Kingdom Egypt. He celebrated an amazing 14 Sed Festivals, and also managed to father more than 90 children. He constructed more temples, colossal statues and obelisks than any other New Kingdom Pharaoh, and established a magnificent new capital city at Pi-Ramesse in the delta.
When Ramesses ascended to the throne at the age of 25, he was determined to follow in the footsteps of his father, Seti I. (Seti had embarked on an ambitious policy of renewal in an attempt to return to the great days of the 18th Dynasty when Egypt's wealth and empire had been at its peak. Seti destroyed many monuments of earlier kings, was worshiped as a god during his long life, and built sanctuaries in his own honor.)
Ramesses modeled himself on two successful 18th Dynasty kings: Thutmose III, the famous New Kingdom "Warrior Pharaoh", who had been largely responsible for the creation of the new Egyptian empire, and Amenhotep III, ruler of Egypt at the height of its prosperity.
Amenhotep III was the first Pharaoh to operate according to the "big is beautiful" policy - enormous temples and colossal statues were constructed at his bidding. Amenhotep III's monuments were also famous for the beauty of their delicate raised-relief decoration. Ramesses surpassed Amenhotep III in sheer number of temples and monuments he erected, but quality was often sacrificed in the name of quantity and speed. Unlike Amenhotep III's raised-relief decorations, Ramesses' builders crafted cruder, sunken-relief carvings.
In the "grandest" of ironies, Ramesses II was not always careful about keeping to the truth. Although the Battle of Kadesh against the Hittites in Year 5 was declared a stalemate, Ramesses publicized it as a great victory! His highly exaggerated account of this battle was featured on no less than eight temples.
After what would be the longest reign in the New Kingdom, Ramesses II died at the extreme old age of 90. He outlived many of his children, many of whom held important administrative positions in Egypt. Of his many wives, Nefertari is best-known, not least through her magnificent tomb.
I have often wondered what drove Ramesses to go to such megalomaniacal length to accomplish so much in his lifetime - to be Pharaoh par excellence on the grandest possible scale. I like to think that it has something to do with a son's desire to live up to his father's and predecessors' legacy. Of course, with Ramesses, this was carried to lengths never equaled before or since. When I wrote the lyrics to this song, I envisioned a man hearing voices in his head. For each accomplishment he would hear his father's voice telling him, "you have done nothing", which in turn drives the man's obsession to live up to his father's seemingly impossible expectations.
User-Maat-Re Setep-en-Re was the throne name of Ramesses II, and means "The Justice of Re is Powerful, Chosen of Re". He is often referred to as "Ramesses the great", because so many of his cultural contributions were measured on the grandest of scales.
Ramesses II had the longest reign of any Pharaoh in New Kingdom Egypt. He celebrated an amazing 14 Sed Festivals, and also managed to father more than 90 children. He constructed more temples, colossal statues and obelisks than any other New Kingdom Pharaoh, and established a magnificent new capital city at Pi-Ramesse in the delta.
When Ramesses ascended to the throne at the age of 25, he was determined to follow in the footsteps of his father, Seti I. (Seti had embarked on an ambitious policy of renewal in an attempt to return to the great days of the 18th Dynasty when Egypt's wealth and empire had been at its peak. Seti destroyed many monuments of earlier kings, was worshiped as a god during his long life, and built sanctuaries in his own honor.)
Ramesses modeled himself on two successful 18th Dynasty kings: Thutmose III, the famous New Kingdom "Warrior Pharaoh", who had been largely responsible for the creation of the new Egyptian empire, and Amenhotep III, ruler of Egypt at the height of its prosperity.
Amenhotep III was the first Pharaoh to operate according to the "big is beautiful" policy - enormous temples and colossal statues were constructed at his bidding. Amenhotep III's monuments were also famous for the beauty of their delicate raised-relief decoration. Ramesses surpassed Amenhotep III in sheer number of temples and monuments he erected, but quality was often sacrificed in the name of quantity and speed. Unlike Amenhotep III's raised-relief decorations, Ramesses' builders crafted cruder, sunken-relief carvings.
In the "grandest" of ironies, Ramesses II was not always careful about keeping to the truth. Although the Battle of Kadesh against the Hittites in Year 5 was declared a stalemate, Ramesses publicized it as a great victory! His highly exaggerated account of this battle was featured on no less than eight temples.
After what would be the longest reign in the New Kingdom, Ramesses II died at the extreme old age of 90. He outlived many of his children, many of whom held important administrative positions in Egypt. Of his many wives, Nefertari is best-known, not least through her magnificent tomb.
I have often wondered what drove Ramesses to go to such megalomaniacal length to accomplish so much in his lifetime - to be Pharaoh par excellence on the grandest possible scale. I like to think that it has something to do with a son's desire to live up to his father's and predecessors' legacy. Of course, with Ramesses, this was carried to lengths never equaled before or since. When I wrote the lyrics to this song, I envisioned a man hearing voices in his head. For each accomplishment he would hear his father's voice telling him, "you have done nothing", which in turn drives the man's obsession to live up to his father's seemingly impossible expectations.