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Ramses the Great Dies
  The Pharoah's Death   The Reign of Ramses the Great   Preparing the Pharoah for the Afterlife  
      Prosperity for the People      
Building for the Gods  
Prowess in Battle  


  One of the ways our departed pharaoh-god accomplished Heka—his religious and organizational duties—was by the many temples, monuments, and statues he erected to the worship and glory of the gods. The great Ramses

dingbatadded to the temples of Amon at Karnak and the great temples at Luxor, Memphis, Thebes, and Heliopolis
dingbatbuilt temple at Hermopolis
dingbatconstructed a series of sanctuaries in Nubia along the banks of the Nile

photo of Abu Simbel
Abu Simbel

Perhaps his most exalted building achievement is among these Nubian sanctuaries—the magnificent temples of Abu Simbel, two adjoining temples cut into the solid rock of a cliff overlooking the Nile. The entryway of the larger temple is flanked by four seated stone statues of our pharaoh-god, Ramses, each 39 cubits tall. Standing like sentinels at the entryway of the smaller temple are colossal figures of Ramses II and his wife Nefertari.

Ramses the Great made available his grand funerary temple, the Temple of a Million Years, as a place of learning for the people. Experts there compile onomastica on everything from biology to geography to law to morality. Religious scholars and scribes study sacred texts. Doctors, magicians, scribes, geologists, astronomers, architects, surveyors, and artists receive instruction there.

On many monuments and statues, Ramses replaced the names of the lesser pharaohs who erected them with his own. In this way, Pharaoh Ramses the Great, beloved of Amon, has assured that future generations will be aware of his extraordinary stature among Egyptian rulers.

   

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