Pharaoh Triumphant. the Life and Times of Ramesses II

Dr. Kitchen's monumental work is the standard book on Ramesses the Great, one of Egypt's Greatest Pharaohs. The author meticulously examines Egypt's history prior to Ramesses' reign and Ramesses II's motivations as king. Kitchen explains Ramesses II's need to enhance his family line's legitimacy to the throne since his grandfather, Ramesses I, only acquired the throne by being appointed as heir apparent to Pharaoh Horemheb. In addition, his family were commoners with no previous blood ties to the royal family. This helps explains Ramesses II's need to create massive statues, rock cut temples at Abu Simbel, the great Ramesseum at Karnak, his initiation of almost yearly military campaigns against the Libyans, the Barbary Sea Pirates, and most famously, the Hittites, among his many numerous deeds in order to prove the legitimacy of his kingship. Ramesses ended up becoming one of Egypt's most famous and dynamic kings and was probably the Pharaoh of the Bible who faced Moses since the prominent city of 'Raamses' is explicitly mentioned in the Biblical account in Exodus as being one of the Egyptian cities in the fertile Delta that the Ancient Israelites left. This is probably the new city of Pi-Ramesse Aa-nakhtu or the "House of Ramesses-Great-of-Victories" which Ramses II built in his reign. His extremely long reign--at 66 Years--allowed him to virtually stamp his authority and memory into posterity. All in all, Kitchen gives an insightful study of Ramesses II: the model pharaoh in war, international diplomacy and monument building. Hence, Kitchen's astute book title: Pharaoh Triumphant indeed.

This book gives the reader a massive insight into the land of Egypt under the fist of pharaoh Ramesses II. The book paints a clear picture into the truth behind this greatest of kings, it explains his family, the history preceeding his reign and the various campaigns during his time on the throne. This is truly a book for the experienced Egyptologist as you have to have a lot of back ground knowledge on the 19th Dynasty. This book makes the great hero out of Ramesses as he no doubt truly was, he truly was "PHARAOH TRIUMPHANT".