Nearly 5,000 years ago, the most dazzling and longest civilization of antiquity was born in Egypt. Golden age of this time, the New Kingdom, which extended from 1500 to 1070 BC A prosperous period that lives the appearance of the first hierarchical state, made up of a sophisticated political organization. The success of this culture was largely due to the desire for power of the various pharaohs who ruled ancient Egypt.
One of the most illustrious, Ramses II, (c.1303 – c.1213 BC) was of exceptional longevity with a reign that lasted 66 years. Considered the ruler of rulers, his monarchy is esteemed as the height of the power of Egypt. The documentary “Champollion and Ramses II, meeting on the Nile”, broadcast as part of the program “Roots and Wings”, reveals not only his true face, but looks back on the incredible legacy left by this king: an insatiable builder, a fine strategist, a master in communication before his time, but also a propagandist.
If the name of Ramses II still resonates so strongly today and rocks our imagination, it is largely thanks to Jean-François Champollion. After unraveling the mystery of the hieroglyphs in 1822, the French Egyptologist decided to set off on an expedition to the land of the pharaohs, six years later. During his eighteen-month journey along the Nile, Champollion takes stock of the omnipotence of Ramses II in the face of the myriad of grandiose temples built under his aegis. The French Egyptologist discovers that the Egyptian king was an astute communicator, carving in stone the least of his feats of arms and inscribing his name on the constructions of his predecessors for the sake of deification of his person. But he does not know that Ramses II had manipulated certain facts dedicated to his glory.
The most striking example was the Battle of Kadesh, the battles of which against the Hittites are carved on part of a temple in Luxor, and which was thehe first war to be documented by ancient sources. On this bas-relief, the pharaoh assumes victory in what was the greatest chariot battle in history. “If the battle of Kadesh that day was a resounding victory for Ramesses II, analysis, in the documentary, the Egyptologist Claude Obsomer, it is not for this that Ramses achieved his objective which was to take the city. This campaign is therefore a failure. (…) Returned to Egypt, Ramsès, in end politician that it is, is not going to explain all the details. He will highlight his resounding and personal victory on the day of the battle and gloss over the details of what happened after.”
This little-known aspect of Ramses II, known as “the great”, in no way damaged his aura, quite the contrary. His many achievements, such as the temples of Abu Simbel, the hall of Karnak, the complex of Abydos, the Ramesseum of Thebes (now Luxor), not to mention other hundreds of buildings and sculptures, are still considered, by historians, as the pinnacle of culture and art Egyptians.
>> The documentary “Champollion and Ramses II, meeting on the Nile” presented as part of the program “Roots and wings”, is broadcast on September 28 at 9:10 p.m. on France 3.