Literature and Politics in the Time of Ramesses II: the Kadesh Inscriptions

Ramesses II (alternative spellings: Ramses, Rameses and known to the Egyptians as Userma’atre’setepenre, which means 'Keeper of Harmony and Balance, Strong in Right, Elect of Ra’, known also as Ozymandias and as Ramesses the Great) was the third pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty. Ramesses lived to be 96 years old, had over 200 wives and concubines, 96 sons... [continue reading]

Literature (from the Latin Littera meaning 'letters’ and referring to an acquaintance with the written word) is the written work of a specific culture, sub-culture, religion, philosophy or the study of such written work which may appear in poetry or in prose. Literature, in the west, originated in Mesopotamia and flourished in Egypt, later in Greece (the... [continue reading]

Kadesh was a city in what is today the country of Syria, an important center of trade in the ancient world, and site of the famous battle between Pharaoh Rameses II (The Great) of Egypt and King Muwatalli II of the Hittite Empire, usually dated to 1274 or 1273 BCE (though Durant, and others, assign a date of 1288 BCE). The Battle of Kadesh... [continue reading]