Ramesses II

Ramesses took the throne at 25 around 1303 BC as the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty. Early on he poured energy into construction: cities, temples, monuments across Egypt. He founded Pi-Ramesses in the Nile Delta and made it his new capital, the staging ground for campaigns into Syria and the Levant, where he reclaimed Egyptian control over Canaan and Phoenicia. The Battle of Kadesh ended in stalemate; the rest of his military record - at least 15 expeditions, including repeated drives into Nubia - held. He celebrated thirteen or fourteen Sed festivals, more than any predecessor. He died around 90 or 91, was buried in the Valley of the Kings, later moved, and rediscovered in 1881. In ancient Greek he became Ozymandias; to the pharaohs who followed, he was the "Great God" - a measure prayed for, never matched.