Who they were
Ramesses II was the third king of the 19th Dynasty. Born c. 1303 BC, he reigned from 1279 to 1213 BC — about 66 years, among the longest reigns of ancient Egypt.
What they did
He fought the Hittite Empire at Kadesh c. 1274 BC; Egyptian temple reliefs proclaim a heroic victory, but the battle is generally judged a stalemate. C. 1259 BC he concluded a peace treaty with the Hittite king Hattusili III — among the earliest surviving written peace treaties between great powers, sealed also by diplomatic marriage. He was an immense builder, leaving the rock temples of Abu Simbel, the Ramesseum, additions across Egypt, and the new Delta capital Pi-Ramesses.
Legacy
He was later called “Ramesses the Great”. Tradition credits him with around 100 children. His mummy survives — moved in 2021 to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo, where it now rests. Nine later pharaohs took the name Ramesses in his honor.