A. In year 21 of Ramses’s reign, when he was about 41, he signed a peace treaty with the Hittites, who were traditional enemies of Egypt. 1. The Hittites, weakened by fighting both the Egyptians and the Assyrians, needed the treaty. 2. The treaty, perhaps the first written in history, contained defense and trade agreements and a nonaggression pact. 3. The treaty was first written on a silver tablet, then later copied on the walls of the Karnak and Abu Simbel temples. 4. Ramses did not need the treaty, but he agreed to it nonetheless. B. Another indication of a change in Ramses was his marriage to a Hittite bride in year 34. 1. He boasted of her dowry, which included exotic goods and horses: “Greater will her dowry be than that of the daughter of the king of Babylon.” 2. The Hittite bride traveled 800 miles with an armed escort, and when she arrived, Hittite and Egyptian soldiers “ate and drank face to face, not fighting,” according to an inscription on a temple wall. C. Yet another exchange between the Hittites and the Egyptians indicates friendship. 1. The Hittite king requested that Ramses send an Egyptian physician to attend to his sister, who couldn’t bear children. 2. Egyptians were known for their skills in “the necessary art,” that is, medicine. Herodotus noted that Egyptians had specialists in gynecology and ophthalmology.
D. In year 44, Ramses took a second Hittite bride to further cement the peace. II. What brought about these changes in Ramses? A. As mentioned earlier, Ramses’s beloved wife Nefertari died in year 20. Further, his first-born son, Amunhirkepshef, died around year 17, and Khaemwaset, the son who labeled the pyramids, also died. B. Ramses abandoned military expeditions and turned his attention from building temples to building tombs. The first was Nefertari’s tomb in the Valley of the Queens. 1. Nefertari’s is the most beautiful tomb in all of Egypt. Its stark white background accentuates the figures depicted on the walls. 2. This tomb had been terribly damaged by the effects of time and salt crystals when it was discovered in 1908. It was painstakingly restored by the Getty Institute in the 1980s. C. The most famous tomb built by Ramses, and the largest tomb in Egypt, is KV 5 (for “Valley of the Kings, 5”), erected for Ramses’s sons. 1. The tomb was first discovered around 1837, then lost, probably because of rare flooding in the Valley of the Kings. It was rediscovered in 1987 by Dr. Kent Weeks. 2. The architecture of KV 5 is quite strange. It has at least three levels and hundreds of small chambers; archaeologists may require more than 100 years to excavate the tomb safely. D. Ramses’s own tomb reflects his greatness. 1. The workmen’s village at Deir el Medineh was supported by Ramses just to build his tomb. From day-to-day information found on potsherds, we know more about this village than about any other ancient town in the world. 2. We also have information about how the tombs were built. Two teams, one working on the right-hand wall and one working on the left-hand wall, built the tomb simultaneously. Specialists were used for chiseling rock, plastering, marking grids on the walls, and painting and sculpting. 3. The bronze chisels of the workmen were weighed at the beginning of and the end of the week to ensure that no metal was stolen. 4. The burial chamber of Ramses the Great probably held more treasure than any other room in antiquity, but it was looted. III. The final event that may have caused the transformation in Ramses was the biblical Exodus. Was Ramses the unnamed pharaoh? A. The Exodus is mentioned more frequently in the Old Testament than any other event and is the most important event in the history of the Hebrews. However, no archaeological evidence exists to verify the occurrence of the Exodus.
B. According to the biblical account, the Israelites were in bondage, toiling for the pharaoh in Egypt. The pharaoh is not named; indeed, pharaoh is not an Egyptian word for “king” but a corruption of two Egyptian words meaning “great house.” C. The Israelites were building “store cities,” essentially, warehouse facilities for the army. The cities, Pithom and Pi-Ramses, actually existed. D. As we know, Moses was the leader of the Israelites. The etymology of his name is interesting. 1. According to biblical commentary, Moses is derived from Hebrew and means “to draw out”; Moses was “drawn out” of the water by an Egyptian princess. But why would an Egyptian princess speak Hebrew? 2. Moses is actually an Egyptian name meaning “birth.” E. In response to Moses’s plea to free the Israelites, the pharaoh said that they would be given no more straw with which to make bricks. When the Israelites turned to God, he spoke to Moses in the form of a burning bush, promising that he would free the Israelites. 1. God promised to give Moses divine powers; Moses would, for example, be able to turn his staff into a serpent in front of the pharaoh. The pharaoh, however, was unimpressed, because his magicians were able to perform the same feat. 2. Eventually, the ten plagues were visited on Egypt, but the pharaoh was unmoved by the first nine of these. The last plague was the death of the first-born sons of Egypt. 3. When the pharaoh’s first-born son was killed, he relented and freed the Israelites. F. Although it may have been exaggerated, internal references in the biblical account confirm parts of the Exodus story. 1. For example, in the beginning of the biblical story, the pharaoh tells the Hebrew midwives to watch the “two stones,” a reference to Egyptian birthing stools. 2. Further, Ramses’s first-born son, Amunhirkepshef, died around the time of the Exodus. G. Ramses died at the age of 86, suffering severe handicaps and, perhaps, defeated by life.