Ramesses the Great: Egypt’s King of Kings
By Toby Wilkinson
Yale University Press 2023

2022 was the centennial of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. To mark the anniversary, publishers have released a number of new books on Ancient Egypt. Most of these books have been about Tutankhamun or featured Tutankhamun in some way. Even Wilkinson’s own Tutankhamun’s Trumpet kept to this trend. Ramesses the Great, Wilkinson’s latest book, largely bucks the trend by presenting an adequate study of a later king, Ramesses II.

Ramesses II was the third king of the Nineteenth Dynasty, a military family whose first king, Ramesses I, was selected by Horemheb (the last king of the Eighteenth Dynasty) to succeed him. Ramesses’s own reign lasted for sixty-six years in an age where life expectancy was only in the thirties. Ramesses is famed for his many monuments and constructions that changed the face of Egypt. He also ushered in a long peace with the rival Hittite kingdom.

Ramesses, understandably, looms large in Ancient Egyptian history. His nearest rival is, of course, Tutankhamun. Tutankhamun’s fame comes not from his reign, but rather the sheer chance that his tomb was forgotten for millennia until 1922. Ramesses’s fame, however, rests on his many achievements. Ramesses, though garbled in legend, was never truly forgotten.

For all of the attractions that Ramesses possesses, Ramesses the Great is a rather dull reading experience. The life of Ramesses, like most people of the ancient world, does not lend itself to biography. The sources just are not there, whether lost or having never existed in the first place. Therefore, this biography largely relies on Ramesses’s actions and constructions.

“A New Colossus,” the third chapter, is all about Ramesses’s love of construction. This is also, by far, the dullest chapter of the book. Wilkinson dives deep into Ramesses’s style, the major constructions, and his usurpations of his predecessors’ own constructions (namely Amenhotep III). The information is interesting, but the length of the chapter (and sheer number of construction) leads to the chapter being a slog.

“Sons and Lovers,” the fourth chapter, is the saving grace of Ramesses the Great. The exploration of Ramesses’s family life breathes some much needed life into the narrative. While most kings of Ancient Egypt kept most of their children hidden from their monuments, Ramesses lavished attention on them. They appear on several of his monuments. And he spent a significant amount of time on their tombs (the section on KV 5 is fascinating). The best parts of this chapter are the sections on Ramesses’s two favorite wives Nefertari and Isetnofret and Khaemwaset, one of Ramesses’s four crown princes. Khaemwaset’s life and achievements (including the Serapeum) leads one to wonder what would have happened had he succeeded his father.

The final chapter, “From Here to Eternity,” explores Ramesses’s death and legacy. Ramesses was a great king, but his successors never came close to matching him. The Nineteenth Dynasty fell not even thirty years after his death despite the sheer number of heirs he sired.

There are some genuinely moving passages in this final chapter. Of course, “Ozymandias” by Shelley is included in full. And a second, inferior, poem, too. The most moving passage, however, is the quotations of the speech presented by Rene Maheu, a UNESCO director in the 1960s, who delivered the keynote address after the successful rescue of the temple of Abu Simbel from the rising water of the Nile caused by the Aswan High Dam.

Ramesses the Great, ultimately, is an interesting if at times dull book. The small surge of books on Ancient Egypt (and the ancient world in general) is likely to not last much longer. So, in at least one respect, this study of Ramesses II is welcome.

James Holder holds a BA in English Literature from St. Edward’s University. He lives in Texas.