His battered troops withdrew from Kadesh, but Ramses wasn’t about to let a little truth tarnish his perceived triumph. On temple walls across Egypt, he ordered the creation of murals depicting him single-handedly defeating the aggressors. In reality, after years of negotiation, Ramses II eventually signed a peace treaty with the Hitтιтes. It was the earliest peace accord whose text has survived. Among its articles, both sides agreed to extradite refugees and not exact retribution after their return. Further, they agreed to aid one another if attacked by foreign or domestic enemies. One copy of the treaty, in hieroglyphics, was carved on a stela in the temple of Karnak. A second copy, written in Akkadian on a clay tablet, was discovered in Turkey in 1906. The significance of this peace treaty is reflected in the fact that a replica of the tablet is on display at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

LIVING UP TO HIS GREATNESS

As a sign of diplomatic good faith, Ramses II married the eldest daughter of the Hitтιтe king. She joined him, Nefertari (his chief queen), and his enormous family—he sired more than a hundred children—at his new capital, Per Ramessu, aptly, though audaciously, named after himself. (See inside the wedding of Ramses II and the Hitтιтe princess.)

The wealth of Ramses II’s reign is evident in his opulent building campaign, the largest undertaken by any pharaoh. The temples at Karnak and Abu Simbel are among Egypt’s greatest wonders. His funerary temple, the Ramesseum, contained a mᴀssive library of some 10,000 papyrus scrolls. He honored both his father and himself by completing temples at Abydos.

For all of Ramses II’s efforts to ensure his legacy would live on, there was one testament to his power he could not have foreseen. After his death, nine subsequent pharaohs took his name upon ascending the throne, solidifying his stature as “the great” among Egypt’s rulers. (Read why the mummy of Ramses II was issued a modern pᴀssport.)