Rameses
or RAMSES, the name of signifies "born of the sun," or the "nassun." The family is supposed to have been of Theban sun," or the "nasbeen descended from one of the later ban origin, and to have RAMESES queens of the 18th dynasty. According to the Roman authors Troy was taken in the reign of Rameses II. He is the supposed Sesostris of most authors, and his sarcophagus and mummy were found in Egypt in 1890. Rameses III. was the chief of the 20th dynasty, the Rhampsinitus of Herodotus, called Meriamoun, or beloved of Ammon, who defeated the Philistines, the Mashuash, and the Libyans, carrying on important wars from the 5th to the 12th year of his reign; he also made conquests in the 16th, and seems to have reigned 55 more years.
He founded the magnificent pile of edi- RAMESES II. fices of Medinat Habu, embellished Luxo, Gurnah, and other parts of Egypt. In 1889 the sarcophagus and mummies of himself and his queen were discovered in Egypt in a marvelous state of preservation. Rameses IV. reigned a short time and performed no distinguished actions. Rameses V., of whom inscriptions are found in Silsilis. Rameses VI., whose tomb at the Biban-El-Meluk contains some astronomical records, from which the date of his reign has been calculated at 1240 B. C. Rameses VII. VIII., IX., X., and XI., undistinguished monarchs. Rameses XII., who reigned above 33 years, in whose reign the statue RAMNAGAR of the god Chons was sent from Egypt to the land of the Bakhten to cure a princess of the royal family of that court with which Rameses had contracted an alliance. Rameses XIII. was an important monarch. Rameses is also the name of one of the fortresses or treasure cities built by the Hebrews during their residence in Egypt.