King Tutankhamun, or most commonly known as King Tut was the 12th pharaoh of the 18th Egyptian dynasty. He is most commonly known as one of the most famous Egyptian pharaohs. When people think of Egyptian, they most likely think of him. What makes King Tut so famous is the discovery of his tomb in 1922. But what made his discovery so fascinating is what was found inside of his tomb, according to Biography.com “The most fascinating item found in King Tut’s tomb was the stone sarcophagus containing three coffins, one inside the other, with a final coffin made of gold”. Having a tragic death, dying at only the age of 19 King Tut is one of the few rulers in Egyptian history to die at such an early age, just only being in power for nine years. On the positive side of things, only at the age of 9 years old King Tut has the blessing to marry his half-sister (wait for it) queen Nefertiti’s daughter, but that’s not all on the same year of his marriage he rose to power! Having so much power at a young age seems like such a dream but it isn’t always all that great. In the first few years of his “reign”, King Tut didn’t have any control over anything! An elderly man who goes by the name of Ay, was controlling King Tut to make sure he doesn’t go against any of his dad’s polytheistic beliefs. But surely enough when King Tut became older, he changed his original name of Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun because of his new-found belief in the god Aten. Later in his reign King Tut decided to move the royal court back to Thebes, trying to restore the old order. He was hoping that his actions would win over the gods again so that they once again look favorably towards Egypt. Even though there is some evidence stating that Tutankhamun’s reign was mostly successful, there were very deadly battles that took place between the Egyptians, Nubians, and Asiatics over land and the control of trade routes. Not only that but there is plenty of evidence that states that King Tut was in the military and that he was excellent at archery! To conclude this, King Tut is one of the most iconic rulers of all time and has left an eventful legacy upon us.
While King Tut is indeed one of the most famous pharaohs of Egypt, Ramses II or most commonly known as Ramses the great is the most famous Egyptian pharaoh of all time. He had a very long reign of over 60 years and has the reputation of constructing humungous monuments often to himself. At the age of 25, right after the death of his father Ramses II became the 3rd king of the 19th dynasty. According to Superbiography.com, he had many big accomplishments such as “a massive program of construction of buildings, through which the temples of Abu Simbel, his funerary temple Ramesseum and the temple of his wife Nefertiti were erected. Later, he founded a new capital for the Empire, the city of Pi Ramesses in the Nile River delta”. He led many battles to victory such as the reassert Egyptian control over Nubia and Canaanite lands, but during the battle of Quadesh he bravely fought against the Hittites but did not earn victory. What he did do though was sign the first ever recorded peace treaty, and reformed Egypt into a stronger and more powerful country than before he rose to power. According to ehistory.osu.edu Ramses II is believed to be the Pharaoh mentioned in the bible, but there is no official evidence to prove this statement. As a Pharaoh Ramses II did an amazing job, but as a builder he created some of the most legendary accomplishments. Ramses II greatest builder accomplishment was the Great Temple of Abu Simbel, it had 4 sixty-foot sculptures carved out of a rock mount side in Nubia. According to ehistory.osu.edu “This monument was deemed so extraordinary that when it was threatened by the building of the Aswan Dam many nations went together and “rescued” it. Over a period of years, engineers dismantled the face of the mountain with all its carving and it’s interior temple rooms and relocated them out of the way of the flooding in 1967”.
Lastly, Ramses III. The second Pharaoh of the 20th dynasty in Egypt. His reputation consisted of the amazing work he did defending his country against invaders in the three great wars. According to Britannica.com “In the fifth year of his reign, a coalition of Libyan tribes invaded the western Nile River delta on the pretext that the pharaoh had interfered in their chief’s succession. The Libyans had in fact encroached upon Egyptian lands, a perennial problem during the 19th and 20th dynasties, and were soundly defeated in a battle in the western delta”. That was just one of the few examples of the wonders Ramses III did during his reign. But just after two years of peace and harmony, another, and more dangerous coalition happened.