Ramses II: Whole Structure Of Religion

Architecture, literature, and the sculpture of 7.25 ton granites busts are all talents of Ramses II, and all of which paved his way to fame, power, and an eternal profile that was misunderstood by historians around the world. A man of many talents and achievements, Ramses II was as calculating as he was skilled. He managed to raise an empire to greatness, promote himself to a position of power so that no opponent would ever dare to challenge his reign, and (accidentally) fool historians everywhere centuries after his death. How did he do it? He did it through public promotions, careful calculating and planning, and the sheer power of Egyptian intelligence. Ramses II has plenty of historians fooled that he was a pride drinking ruler, hungry

The Ancient Egyptians believed that the pharaoh was a god himself, and that his power was given to him by the god Ra. Other pharaohs also believed in this as well which was the case with Zoser, and the pharaohs of the preceding dynasties.

The temple was originally carved out of the mountainside next to the Nile during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II in the 13th century BC. It was to serve as a lasting monument to himself and his queen Nefertari, to commemorate his victory at the Battle of Kadesh. He also wanted to intimidate Egypt's neighbors, the Nubians. It was Ramses' way of trying to make an impression upon Egypt's neighbors, as well as to force Egypt's religion upon them. Propaganda in Egyptian art was common. Art can attempt to persuade, publicize and influence the people’s attitudes. Their art work includes paintings, stone carvings, statues, and sculpture and funeral artifacts. Daily life such as field work, special events, political and social hierarchy, battles

The Ancient Egyptian were polytheistic most of the time, which means that they believed in multiple gods. When Akhenaten was pharaoh, the Egyptians were monotheistic, meaning they worshiped only one god. He ended the worship of other gods and claimed that Aten, the lord of all was the only god in Egypt. The Egyptians didn't like this idea, so on their own,

February-22nd-1303bc was the birth of Ramses II, son of Queen Tuy and father Seti I. After taking the throne in his teens he went on to become the third Egyptian pharaoh of the nineteen dynasty in his early 30’s and conquered Egypt from May-31st 1279-1212bc, he ruled Egypt for 66 years and 2 months before his decease.

In the typical life of an Egyptian citizen, one was constantly being influenced by their gods and goddesses because of his or her belief in a polytheistic religion. The gods and goddesses were believed to have power over the forces and elements over nature, and myths about them explained the connection they had between their

Another significant pharaoh was Ramses II, he also helped made Egypt stronger through his military strength, architectural knowledge, and even his religious beliefs. Specifically Ramses II military was

In the eulogy on the Kuban stele, we have a repetitive notion of how Ramesses II is view as one of the gods, using metaphors to describe his relationship with specific gods. It is important to make that Ramesses II is not being compared to any random gods, but he being compared or rather being described to having the attributes of some of the most popular and powerful gods within Egypt. Ramesses II is described as being “like Re”, his words are like those of Harakhte, he is able to measure more accurately than Thoth and that his mind works just like Ptah’s mind . What is notable about these four gods, is that both Re and Harakhte are manifestations of the all-important Sun-God of Egypt, Thoth is the wise patron of god of Hermopolis and Ptah is the patron god for Memphis and Craftsmen; all in their own right gods of creation .

Imagine Egypt, in its prime. During the 19th Dynasty, where chariots might be racing through the streets, constructions of our modern day wonders were in progress, and merchants and artisans were in the busy market place selling their ware. Pharaohs ruled the land, and were seen as gods. During this famous time period, Ramses the second was the third ruler, 1279 - 1212 B.C. He was to be said to be the pharaoh in Exodus.

He did this to, “… make the Aten—the god of the solar disk—the head of the state religion” (Readings, p.23). This goes to show how badly he wanted this change because he decided to change his name. He tried to make changes to the Egyptian religion that was known for its continuity. This lead to an innovation called henotheism which was different then the polytheistic religion Egypt was accustomed to. Henotheism was worshiping one god without denying there were other gods elsewhere in the world (Humanities, p. 180). These changes he was starting to make were all around Egypt’s religion and the gods they believed in. He still represented the Egyptians desire for continuity even though he tried to change the religion because he wanted what he tried to do to continue even after his death and he was still believing in a god, though it was more centered towards one god in particular. When he did this it basically “…reshaped the royal religion at his capital, Amarna” (Humanities, p. 180). It reshaped it because many were accustomed to the religion they had been believing in and many people were not happy with this change. Apparently, it had “…aroused the opposition of conservative nobles who supported the powerful priests of the Theban god, Amen” (Humanities,

This changed with the rise of a new pharaoh named Akhenaten. Akhenaten is most famous for his belief that only one god should be worshipped: Aton, god of the sun (McKay et al. 26). This belief led to the pharaoh moving the capital of the country from Thebes to a new city: Amarna (Redford 22). This was a far-cry from the beliefs of the old Egypt, with only one god getting attention, and the others being neglected (it was said that the other gods were still acknowledged as existent, in some way, shape or form) (Redford 13). This new series of beliefs did not hold well with the Egyptian people, who bounced back to polytheism right after his death. Although author McKay at el. State that the ideas did not survive because of “no connection to the past” and “persecution of nonbelievers”, perhaps the resistance to the new form of religion was because of the loss of power and jobs in the temple sect of the Egyptian economy (McKay 26)? No one can tell for

Although Egyptians were polytheistic, they worshiped the sun god, Atum or Re, as he was the source of life. This is important because the Egyptian king took the title of “Son of Re”. The king, hence the descendant of the god, was the mother and father of all men without equal. The king akin to the living god, and his rule was law. Despite there being no laws, the words out of the king’s mouth were the law. As a king, he handles the army to protect his possessions and people.

Ramses had a harsh and profound life, yet he was able to accomplish, build, and expand so many ideas across Egypt and even into today. Ramses II made most decisions based on his involvement whether that was war, politics, or ruling. Egypt had to rely on Ramses II to be Pharaoh when his father died. This step in which Ramses had to take at the age of 19 was hard to fulfill with only some training by his father. Ramses was able to accomplish many innovations that have survived to be around today. As ruler Ramses was also the leader of his army and led many battles including the famous war between the Egyptians and Hittites. Ramses created the first treaty to be written down after a war. Ramses has been known to be one of the most profound

Egyptian rulers were viewed as completely divine incarnations of their gods: Horus in life, and Osiris in death. Egyptian citizens believed that so long

Amenhotep IV was the first pharaoh to challenge the Egyptian culture and religious beliefs. His decision to make Aten, “The God of the Sun Disk”, the only god, took power away from the temple priests. Before Amenhotep IV made the changes, Egypt practiced polytheism not only worshiping the Sun Disk God, but around 12 other gods with roles such as fertility, the sky, the Nile River, childbirth, etc. With Egypt practicing monotheisms the temple priest have lost control of any political or religious gain they once held. This will be the first time Egypt practices monotheism. In making this change Amenhotep IV became known as Akhenaten, “Shining Spirit of Aten”. Becoming Akhenaten was not the only changes reflected from his reign as pharaoh.