At the age of 10, Ramesses had been given the title of "Eldest King's Son" by Seti, thus recognising him as the heir to the throne. He had taken his two principle wives, Nefertari and Istnofret, before Seti's death, and had sired at least 5 sons and 2 daughters by them, as well as 10-15 children by various harem girls before the old king died. By his death, Ramesses would sire more than 100 sons and a number of daughters that simply could not be counted. His wives during his long life included not only the two I have already mentioned, but also a younger sister, 3 daughters, 2 Hittite princesses, and a number of Syrian and Babylonian royal ladies.

He was given something of a baptism of fire at the start of his reign, as there was a serious revolt in the Levant, inspired by the Hittites, in year 4. The following year, Ramesses embarked on a campaign whose description would grace the walls of most of the temples he would later construct.

He moved his army of roughly 20,000 men (split into 4 divisions) up as far as Gaza, and to within 10 miles of Kadesh. There, he captured 2 spies who said the Hittite army was still 100 miles away. Ramesses therefore marched with the first division (the Amun division) of his army to camp just west of Kadesh. 2 more spies were captured, and revealed that the Hittite army (split into 2 divisions of 19,000 men each) was in fact only a few miles away, just on the other side of Kadesh.

The Hittite king, Muwatallis, cut Ramesses off from the other 3 divisions of his army, and attacked. Here the wall carvings speak of the Egyptian king's skill in rallying his troops, and of his great personal bravery in the face of catastrophe. Ramesses was eventually saved by the arrival of his elite personal guard (which had travelled a different route), and Muwatallis was forced to retreat. The following day Ramesses, now up to full strength, attacked the Hittites, but the result was a stalemate.

This was not how Ramesses saw it though - he thought it was a great victory, and ensured it was depicted on the walls of Karnak, Luxor (3 times), the Ramesseum (his mortuary temple, 2 times), and his temples at Abydos, Abu Simbel and Derr. We also have several accounts written on papyrus that survive.

Ramesses campaigned further against the Hittites, but both eventually came to realise that the conflict was pretty pointless - the Egyptians couldn't control Northern Syria, and the Hittites couldn't control the south. Therefore, a peace treaty was signed in year 21 (c. 1259BC). In c. 1246BC, Ramesses was given a Hittite wife by King Hattusilis III.

In terms of building work, Ramesses finished his father's monuments at Karnak and Luxor, and also finished his mortuary temple and the one he was building at Abydos when he died. Ramesses built his own temple at Abydos, as well as his giant mortuary temple, known as the Ramesseum, on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes. While he was in the building mood, he also constructed 2 temples at Abu Simbel.

Probably the Pharaoh mentioned in the Bible at the time of Exodus, Ramesses died in year 67 of his reign, at perhaps 92 years of age. He was buried in KV7, which was slightly smaller and not as well decorated as his father's. One of the first tombs to be opened (as shown by the low number), it has suffered extensive water damage and is now virtually inaccessible. His mummy was originally buried there but was moved in c. 1054BC into his father's tomb and subsequently re-interred at Deir el-Bahari, where it was discovered in 1881.