Famous Pharaohs

Ramses II's Father, Sons and Daughters

It is scarcely worth while to relate what Ramses II did for the buildings of his father at Abydus. In the course of his long reign the king completed the temple. When the great building was completely finished, Ramses must have been already advanced in years, since not less than sixty sons and fifty-nine daughters of Ramses II greeted in their pictures the entrance of the pilgrims at the principal gate. In proportion as the works executed under Seti, the father, present to the astonished eyes of the beholder splendid examples of Egyptian architecture and sculpture, just so poor and inferior are the buildings which were executed under the reign of Ramses, and which bear the names of the Conquering King. The feeling also of gratitude towards his parent seems to have gradually faded away with Ramses, as years increased upon him, to such a degree, that he did not even deem it wrong to chisel out the names and memorials of his father in many places of the temple walls, and to substitute his own. As we wish to leave it to our readers to form their own opinion on the boastful Ramses, we will turn to another field of his activity, and follow him, in the 5th year of his reign, to the stream of the Orontes in Syria, the waters of which washed the fortress of Kadesh on all sides.

Monuments of Ramses II

This is the king who above all others bears the name of honor of A-nakhtu "the Conqueror", and whom the monuments and the rolls of the books often designate by his popular names of Ses, Sestesu, Setesu, or Sestura, that is, the "Sethosis, who is also called Ramesses" of the Manethonian record, and the renowned legendary conqueror Sesostris of the Greek historians. The number of his monuments, which still to the present day cover the soil of Egypt and Nubia in almost countless numbers, as the ruined remnants of a glorious past, or are daily brought to light from their concealment, is so great and almost countless, that the historian of his life and deeds finds himself in a difficulty where to begin, how to spin together the principal threads, and where to end his work. If to honor the memory of his father be the chief duty and the first work of a dutiful son, and we shall see that this was the persuasion of Ramses II, the beginning is made easy for us, and we shall honor the king's memory in the worthiest manner by using the very words of the great Sesostris about his first acts on entering upon his sole reign. Temple of Ramses II in Abydos: King Seti had died. The temple of Abydus stood half finished. The first royal care of Ramses was to complete the work, and in a long inscription on the left wall of the entrance, to record the intention with which his heart was charged, for the imitation of his contemporaries and of posterity. The lord of the land arose as king, to show honor to his father, in his first year, on his first journey to Thebes.

He had caused likenesses of his father, who was King Seti I, to be sculptured, the one in Thebes, the other in Memphis at the entrance gate, which he had executed for himself, besides those which were in Nifur, the necropolis of Abydus. Thus he fulfilled the wish which moved his heart, since he had been on earth, on the ground of the god Unnofer. He renewed the remembrance of his father, and of those who rest in the under world, in that he made his name to live, and caused his portraits to be made, and fixed the revenues set apart for his venerated person, and filled his house and richly decked out his altars. The walls were rebuilt, which had become old in his favorite house, the halls in his temple were rebuilt, its walls were covered, its gates were raised up; whatever had fallen into decay in the burial place of his father in the Necropolis was restored, and the works of art which had been carried away were brought back into the interior. All this did the Conquering King Ramses II for his father Seti I. He established for him the sacrifices in rich profusion, in his name and in that of the earlier kings. His breast had a tender feeling towards his parent, and his heart beat for him who brought him up.

Menkaure (2532–2504 B.C.)

After Khafra's passage home to the realm of the dead, where the king of the gods, Osiris, held the sceptre, Men-kau-ra (Menkaure), Mencheres, ascended the throne. This is the Mykerinos, Mencherinos, about whom the Greek authors relate that he erected the third pyramid as a memorial of honour. It is called in the texts by the name of hir, that is, "the high one". When Colonel Vyse found his way to the middle of the chamber of the dead and entered into the silent space of "Eternity", his eye discerned, as the last trace of Menkaura's place of burial, the wooden cover of the sarcophagus, and the stone coffin hewn out of one hard block, beautifully adorned outside in the style of a temple, according to the fashion of the masters of the old empire. The sarcophagus rests now at the bottom of the Mediterranean, the English vessel which was conveying it having been wrecked near Gibraltar. The cover, which was saved, thanks to the material of which it was composed, is now exhibited in the gallery of Egyptian antiquities in the British Museum.

Its outside is adorned with a short text conceived in the following terms: "Osiris, who hast become king of Egypt, Menkaura hving eternally, child of Olympus, son of Urania, heir of Kronos, over thee may she stretch herself and cover thee, thy divine mother, Urania, in her name as mystery of heaven. May she grant that thou shouldest be like God, free from all evils, King Menkaura, living eternally". This prayer is of very ancient origin, for there are examples of it found on the covers of sarcophagi belonging to the dynasties of the ancient empire. The sense of it is full of significance. Delivered from mortal matter, the soul of the defunct king passes through the immense space of heaven to imite itself with God, after having overcome the evil which opposed it during its life on its terrestrial journey. According to classic traditions King Mencheres enjoyed a very good reputation among pharaonic ancestors. He is described as a man distinguished for his justice and kindness, as also for his piety in regard to all that concerned the worship of the gods. For this reason the Egyptians after his death accorded him the honors of a god, by establishing a special worship dedicated to his memory. I do not know if we ought to attribute a great importance to this worship. The Egyptians rendered him the same honor which the kings, his predecessors, enjoyed after their decease. For the monuments of the time of the building of the pyramids mention priests and prophets which were devoted to the service of Kheops, Chabryes, and other rulers, and who oflfered them sacrifices and attended to their service, after the "lord of the world" had left the hght and descended to the depth of his grave. As to the religious sentiments which we attribute to the Pharaoh Mencheres, it seems in fact that Mencheres Pius occupied himself during his Ufe by a certain predilection with sacred literature. The book called Pirem-lieru, the so-called "departure from day", recalls his memory particularly in gate 64. According to the words of the text the author finishes the gate with this remark: "This gate was discovered in the town of Hermopolis, engraved on a block of alabaster, and painted in blue color under the feet of this god. It was discovered at the epoch of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Mencheres the defunct, by the prince his son, Hortotef, when he undertook a journey to inspect the temples of Egypt. He brought it as a wonderful thing to the king, after having recognized the contents full of mystery".

Ramses II's Father, Sons and Daughters

Monuments of Ramses II

Menkaure (2532–2504 B.C.)

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