Ramses Usermaatre Setepenre
Ramses II Usermaatre Setepenre, son of king Sethi I, was one of the longest reigning pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. He reigned 67 years (roughly from 1290-1224 BC), in the beginning as coregent with his father, and lived for more than 80 years, which was very rare in those days. During his life he made quite a reputation as a builder and a warrior, but also as a ladies man. He had 5 or 6 main wives, foremost of all being Nefertari, but is known to have had more than 100 children with all of his wives. Already in Ancient Egypt people seems to have made fun of this fact, since the contemporary and famous Turin Papyrus features erotic scenes involving a pharaoh --probably Ramses II-- and several women.
Ramses II is, however, best known for all the buildings he had constructed in his name across the country. Especially the monumental temples of Karnak (near Luxor) and Abu Simbel (in the south of the country in so-called Nubia), and his mortuary temple The Ramesseum (on the West Bank near Luxor) give evidence of his love for grandeur. In all of his monuments he had his name cartouche and texts engraved so deep that no successor would be able to remove it.
Ramses' energetic building activities more or less led to a degrading of Egyptian art as far as the engraving of texts and images on temple walls was concerned, for he demanded the monuments to be erected with greater speed than usual. Otherwise carefully engraved texts and images with many beautiful details were now made more superficially, a practice which was unfortunately continued by his successors.
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Most famous of his military engagements is the Battle of Kadesh against the Hittites (from Western Asia), with whom the Egyptians had been struggling for many years. He seems to have escaped defeatby pure luck, as his main force --the pharaoh himself commanding-- was ambushed by the Hittites, and was only saved just in time by reinforcements while retreating. Both sides claimed the victory in this battle, but it seems more likely to have ended in a status quo. Ramses II recorded 'his' victory on several monuments, showing him slaying the Hittites in person (see image above). The problems between Egyptians and Hittites were finally settled several years later when Ramses married a Hittite princess.
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After he died, Ramses was buried in the famous royal necropolis of the Valley of the Kings, located in the hills on the west bank of the Nile opposite modern town of Luxor.
Hatshepsut was born to Ahmose and Tuthmosis I, who was pharaoh at the time. Tuthmosis I and Ahmose also gave birth to two sons, both of whom died, leaving Hatshepsut as the only heir to the throne. It is unknown whether her parents raised her to become the pharaoh or not, but she grew up and married her half-brother, Tuthmosis II. Marrying within your family was a regular practice in royal families because it kept blood lines intact. Tuthmosis II and Hatshepsut had a daughter together named Neferure. Hatshepsut’s father died when she was very young, probably around 15 years old. Tuthmosis II took over, but only ruled for about three or four years, when he died from what is believed to be a skin disease. After his death, Tuthmosis the III, Hatshepsut’s stepson, was still too young to rule, which led to her ruling as Queen’s Regent. Her charismatic personality and group of followers led to her fully becoming pharaoh about seven years into Tuthmosis III’s rule. While having a female pharaoh was not unprecedented, Hatshepsut was the first to take on the f...
Pyramids, gold, the Nile, hieroglyphics, gods and goddesses…no matter how much we know about it, we all see one of these things when we picture Egypt. However, this image is not complete without the Pharaoh. Not much in Egypt was. So to be considered “The Last Great Pharaoh of Egypt” is quite an honor, an honor that Ramesses III carries. A ruler in the time of the New Kingdom, he gave Egypt a few more years of glory before it’s decline.
In 1295, BCE, Horemheb died, Rameses I first royal act, the overseeing of his secret burial rites in the Valley of the Kings. Rameses I took this time to pick out his own burial tomb and began preparations to be buried next to his friend Horemheb. Rameses I and his son Seti planned fabulous buildings, and had existing buildings and monuments redone wi...
In conclusion, the portrayal of ancient rulers is dependent not only on the style of art popular during the era, but also on the evolution of the political climate. The portrayal of Menkaure, a pharaoh of the Old Kingdom in ancient Egypt, is of complete authority, control and power. His face does not show concern or grief over his people, because he is not challenged politically, the image of control coincides with his sole power over the kingdom. While the depiction of Alexander the Great, in ancient Greek coins is deified. Alexander’s leadership ended with world domination; therefore, his deified portrayal on monetary funds is particularly appropriate. By contrast, Philip the Arab’s portrait sculpture almost resembles a present day photograph with its capture of fleeting expression. This expression of anxiety and sadness is a representation of the political turmoil during the time period of his rule. Taking the progress of ancient cultures into account, how does the art of sculpting improve in the manipulation of the medium used?
Ramesses II is particularly well known due to the exceptional longevity of his reign and his military campaigns, which he commemorated frequently in his massive campaign of construction projects. The details of his reign can help to shed some light on this cube statue. One of the more unusual aspects of the sculpture is that it was altered after its initial production; both the inscribed hieroglyphics and the side-lock were later additions to a preexisting statue. The reworking of old art is a relatively common phenomenon in Ancient Egyptian culture and there are several possible possible explanations for this distinctive feature. One possible explanation for the refurbishment is that the sculpture was originally made for the prince and was updated at a later date to reflect a change in his status. This hypothesis may explain the addition of the hieroglyphic text, which does give his military titles, but it has significantly less explanatory power with regard to the side-lock. Because the it is a symbol of the royal youths and thus would have been associated with the prince from a young age, it would would be strange if he were to have been originally depicted with a round headdress with the side-lock added
When the pharaoh took the throne nearly five thousand years ago, he inherited a kingdom that had only recently emerged from a long period of civil war. In the beginning the country had been divided into two regions, Lower Egypt (the Delta) and Upper Egypt (the Nile Valley). They two regions were very different. They had different economies, lifestyles, belief systems and artistic traditions. The struggle lasted for many years before the kingdom was forged together. This event took place an estimated 250 years before Djoser took the thrown. However, the union between the two was fragile at best, separatism was strongly present in the north. Before Djoser’s reign, the years were filled with turmoil and civil war. The royal cemeteries show signs of destruction. Exper...
The expansion of the political and economical power during the New kingdom, led to the devotion of resources to the religious architecture; numerous new temples were constructed while the pre-existing temples were renovated. Individual Pharaohs endeavored to out do their ancestors, not only in the construction of their own mortuary temples, but also in the establishment of worship temples of their deities. Kings of this period abandoned the pyramid complexity of the earlier ages and constructed their tombs in the Valley of the Kings well away from their mortuary temples due to the increase of robbers; therefore a standardized plan became default for both the worship and mortuary temples. Because of this movement, I believe that the divine and mortuary spheres became entwined in both theory and practice. During the 18th dynasty, temple construction reached its highest point under Amenhotep III and Tuthmosis II; it was the art of the Middle kingdom that they wished to imitate. Hatshepsut temple at Deir el Bahari compared to its neighboring temple of Mentuhotep III, are great examples of the return to ancient architectural resources. ( image 4&5) show the direct inspiration based on the replica of the previous kingdom’s architecture. Some of the imitated elements were the long porticoes with squared pillars rising in terraces, wide ascending ramps, the entrances colonnaded with the sanctuary, the great use of papyrus columns and above all the strict harmony of the building with its setting. Although there was a conscious desire to return to the disciplines of the former period, yet development also took place. The attempt to achieve greater effect of lightness became dominant as well as the extra care given to the decoration and t...
Two main devices used in Egyptian art from the fourth dynasty, that also help classify it, are a strive for naturalism and the use of sculpture in the round. In addition to the large burial monuments being built, portraiture became quite popular at this time in history. Paintings featuring humans used their own form of "sculpture in the round" by painting in ...
The ancient Greek was one of the most well-known civilization throughout history. This civilization was known for their history, philosophy, religion, and specially sculpture. One of the dominant ones was their sculpture. By studying the ancient Greek sculpture, one can see that there were different shifts. Historians tell us that these different shifts took place during the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, the Dark Ages, the Archaic, the Classical, and the Hellenistic Age. The three major shifts in ancient Greek sculptural development that we need to analyze are the Archaic, the Classical, and the Hellenistic sculpture.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ‘Egyptian Art’, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Egyptian Art. New Series, Vol. 41, No. 3, Egyptian Art (Winter, 1983-1984): pp. 1+3-56
Later, Ramses II had scenes from the battle carved on temple was all over Egypt. According to the carvings, Ramses prayed to Amon, the chief Egyptian god, to save him.
The pharaoh in ancient Egypt was the political and religious leader of the people and held the titles ‘Lord of the Two Lands’ and ‘High Priest of every Temple’.
The First pyramid is Imhotep, this was the first artist whose name recorded during the third Dynasty for King Djoser. The god-king’s pyramid resembles a series of stacked mastabas of diminishing size. This is one of the oldest stones structures that is built in Egypt and it had the final form of the first truly grandiose royal tomb. The Fourth Dynasty pyramids are the three pyramids of Gizeh. They took the shape of ben-ben, the emblem of the sun god. The sun rays were the ramp the Egyptian kings used to ascend the heavens to the heavens after their death and rebirth. By the end of the time pyramids came to an end their quality and the construction declined much more and as well as the powers of the
For quite some time now I have taken a great interest in Ancient Egyptian artwork and the history behind it. The Ancient Egyptian were once a powerful civilization, they left behind thousands of ancient enriched artifacts. Religion played a significant role in Ancient Egyptian artwork and had a huge influence on their civilization. The vast majority of Ancient Egypt artwork illustrates images of gods, goddesses, and rulers known as pharaohs. The Ancient Egyptians paid close attention to balance, proportions and rich details. If a person were to closely look at Egyptian art it would be clear to see that they used vibrant shapes with simple figures and smooth spaces of color assisting in creating a sense of direction and poise in
...nt Egypt, along the River Nile. It is expressed in sculptures, paintings, tombs, pyramids, temples and much more fascinating and symbolizing the past and was made to keep history of the powerful and glorious Egypt alive for many years to come. The Architecture of Ancient Egypt use to be noblest ancient art, as it was combination of mass, beauty, duration and use. It began in humble adornment of external home decorations and tombs. The Art and Architecture are characterized by detailed and regular depiction of nature and human beings and intended for providing company to dead in afterlife. It is preservation of time by artists of everything of that time in a permanent state for future to observe and take precedence in its beauty, completeness and mystery. Most of these art and architecture are vivid representation of life and time, as it used to be in ancient Egypt.