ABSTRACT
During the reign of Amenhotep and Tutankhamen, the Egyptian Empire, earlier covering all of what is today considered Egypt and much of Palestine and Syria, had suffered many military reversals. Seti brought rebellious Palestine and Syria back firmly under Egyptian control, although he could not make headway against the Hittites, who had set up impregnable fortresses along the Orontes River in northern Syria. When he came to power in 1279, Ramses immediately moved to cement the loyalty of the Egyptian people. Second, he had a lovely capital built in the Nile Delta, named Per-Ramses, in an area between Egypt's possessions along the Upper Nile and its outposts in Syria. Ramses was successful because of his own natural abilities and his defense of Egypt, and because he paid attention to the various factions within the empire. Curiously, the internal peace and broad expanse of Egypt created by Ramses had an undermining effect on the Egyptian state and society.
