The Ramesside Age

c. 1292 – 1155 BCE

Egypt's last great flourish under Seti I and Ramesses II, before the slow retreat of empire.

Egypt's last great flourish opened with restoration. Seti I rebuilt what Amarna had let fall and left Abydos as proof of it; his son Ramesses II ruled for sixty-six years, fought the Hittites to a standstill at Kadesh, and turned the stalemate into the greatest propaganda campaign in Egyptian history. His queen Nefertari received a temple at Abu Simbel and warm letters from the Hittite court itself.

Merneptah inherited an aging empire and beat back the first waves of the Sea Peoples; his descendant Ramesses III beat back a second, larger wave and then died in a harem conspiracy his own mummy still bears witness to — the quiet start of the long Egyptian retreat.

5 figures · sorted by birth year

Ramesses III

renown

#1072 · 8-10-26

ESTJ

The last great pharaoh, who beat the Sea Peoples twice and died in a household conspiracy.

Merneptah

notable

#1071 · 8-10-26

ISTJ

An elderly heir who beat back the Sea Peoples and left the earliest record of Israel.

Nefertari

renown

#1070 · 8-10-26

ESFJ

The queen honored with her own temple at Abu Simbel and warm letters to a foreign court.

Ramesses II

iconic

#1069 · 8-10-26

ENTJ

The Great, who ruled sixty-six years and turned a battlefield draw into eternal triumph.

Seti I

renown

#1068 · 8-10-26

ISTJ

The restorer whose Abydos reliefs are the finest carving Egypt ever produced.

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