Warrior, mighty builder and statesman, over the course of his 67-year-long reign (1279-1212 BCE), Ramesses II achieved more than any other pharaoh in the three millennia of ancient Egyptian civilization. Drawing on the latest research, Peter Brand reveals Ramesses the Great as a gifted politician, canny elder statesman, and tenacious warrior. With restless energy, he fully restored the office of Pharaoh to unquestioned levels of prestige and authority, thereby bringing stability to Egypt. He ended almost seven decades of warfare between Egypt and the Hittite Empire by signing the earliest international peace treaty in recorded history. In his later years, even as he outlived many of his own children and grandchildren, Ramesses II became a living god and finally, an immortal legend. Brand paints with authoritative knowledge and colourful details a compelling portrait of this legendary Pharaoh who ruled over Imperial Egypt during its Golden Age.

About the Author

Peter J. Brand (PhD University of Toronto, 1998) is an ancient historian and Egyptologist specializing in history and culture of ancient Egypt during its imperial age (ca. 1550-1100 BCE). He is author of The Monuments of Seti I and their Historical Significance: Epigraphic, Historical and Art-Historical Analysis (Brill, 2000), and has written numerous articles on Egyptian kingship, monumental art and construction, history, popular religion, warfare, and diplomacy during the late Eighteenth Dynasty and Ramesside period. Ramesses II, Egypt's Ultimate Pharaoh is his fourth book. Since 2001, Brand has served as director of the Karnak Hypostyle Hall Project, which is recording, conserving, and interpreting hundreds of scenes and hieroglyphic texts carved on the walls and columns of the Great Hypostyle Hall. The project uses cutting-edge technology to model and reveal the inscriptions on this forest of 134 giant columns. Brand has appeared in over twenty documentaries for the History Channel, Discovery, and National Geographic.

Reviews

"Dr Brand's book is well and authoritatively written, with an excellent choice of illustrations, mainly in colour. It is to be wholeheartedly recommended, and will certainly become the standard English language work on Rameses II for the foreseeable future." Aidan Dodson, Egyptian Archaeology Issue 63 Autumn 2023

Book Information
ISBN 9781948488488
Author Peter J Brand
Format Paperback
Page Count 608
Imprint Lockwood Press
Publisher Lockwood Press