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No doubt, no doubt you can overcome anything... but your own arrogance.

—―Sethi I to Rameses II

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Usermaatre-setepenre Rameses-Meryamun,[1] also known as Rameses or Rameses II, was the son of Pharaoh Sethi I and his consort Queen Tuya, and later the third Pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Raised within his father's court, he became one of the two crown princes during Sethi's reign, the other being his adoptive-cousin Moses.

After Moses was exiled from Egypt, not for being the son of Hebrew slaves but for committing "treason" for wanting to free the slaves, Sethi bethrothed throne princess Nefretiri to Rameses. He therefore became the successor of Sethi and unravelled Moses' true heritage through the hearings of the chief Hebrew-overseer Dathan whom he later appointed as Governor of Goshen.

During the first five years of his regime, Rameses achieved to convert Egypt into an internationally-recognized nation, having ambassadors from Troy, Jericho and other nations sent to him. It was during those visits, when Moses returned to Egypt as a prophet commanded by God to free the slaves.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Probably born around 1396 BCE, three years prior to Moses' birth, to Pharaoh Sethi I and his royal consort wife Tuya in Thebes, Egypt. His nurse was Memnet, and his father's sister Bithiah later adopted Moses as as foundling, and whom Sethi I favored more. Rameses II along with Moses were raised as crown princes of Egypt and therefore potential pharaohs, each wearing princes' locks.

Life as crown prince[]

With Moses as a dangerous rival, Rameses wanted to eliminate Moses's prominent and popular favor as pharaoh. Sethi I had ordered him to construct a treasure city, but Rameses never did and he alluded to the fact that the Hebrews' attitude was more positive because of the deliverer. Sethi I then decided to pass the treasure city project to the more accomplished Moses, and instructed Rameses to search for the Hebrews' deliverer. By the lurky Hebrew chief-overseer Dathan, he soon knew that Moses was a Hebrew and hatched a plan to get rid of him.

His grandfather Rameses I, was the pharaoh who ordered the decree of the assasination of the newborn Hebrew man-children. After Moses was driven out of Egypt, Rameses soon possesed the throne of Egypt, and married the throne princess, Nefretiri. She conceived a son whose name is never revealed but presumed to be Amun-her-khepeshef, about the same age as Gershom who was Moses and Sephora's son.

References[]

Pharaohs of Egypt
Rameses I - Sethi I - Rameses II

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