Ancient World
Seti I: Pharaoh of Restoration and the Temple at Abydos
Seti I re-established Egyptian power in the Levant and left some of the finest monuments of the New Kingdom, passing a strong state to his son Ramesses II.
Region
Africa
Ancient World
Ramesseum: Ramesses II's Temple and the Ozymandias Statue
Ramesses II gained a vast cult temple whose ruins and toppled colossus later inspired Shelley's sonnet Ozymandias.
Ancient World
Ramesses II: The Great Pharaoh of the New Kingdom
Ramesses II reigned for 66 years, ended decades of war with the Hittites by treaty and left more monuments than any other pharaoh.
Ancient World
Battle of Kadesh (1274 BC): Ramesses II Against the Hittites
Tactically inconclusive; Ramesses escaped defeat, but Kadesh and Amurru stayed under Hittite control.
Ancient World
KV5: Tomb of the Sons of Ramesses II in the Valley of the Kings
A family tomb for the king's sons became the largest known tomb in the valley, revealed in 1995 to have well over 100 chambers.
Ancient World
Abu Simbel Temples: Ramesses II's Monuments in Nubia
Two rock-cut temples proclaimed Ramesses II's power in Nubia; in the 1960s they were cut up and moved above the rising waters of the Aswan High Dam.
Ancient World
Egyptian-Hittite Peace Treaty (1259 BC): The Treaty of Kadesh
Egypt and the Hittites agreed lasting peace, mutual defence and the return of fugitives, ending their long war over Syria.
Ancient World
Tomb of Nefertari: The Finest Tomb in the Valley of the Queens
Nefertari's tomb survived with its paintings largely intact and, after major conservation in 1986-1992, is regarded as the most beautiful tomb in Egypt.
Ancient World
Merneptah Stele: Earliest Mention of Israel (c. 1208 BC)
A royal victory hymn that preserved the oldest known reference to a people called Israel in Canaan.
Ancient World
Medinet Habu: Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III at Thebes
Ramesses III built the best-preserved mortuary temple of the New Kingdom, whose reliefs are the main record of his wars against the Sea Peoples.
Ancient World
Sea Peoples: Raiders of the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean
Egypt repelled the Sea Peoples twice, but some groups, notably the Philistines, settled on the coast of Canaan as the Late Bronze Age order collapsed.
Ancient World
Battle of the Delta: Ramesses III Against the Sea Peoples
Egyptian victory; the Sea Peoples were repelled from Egypt, though many settled on the coast of Canaan.