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Real Life Biblical Kings and Other Historic Bible Facts and Figures

Khalid Elhassan April 25, 2025 18 min

Bible - Yul Brynner as the pharaoh in 'The Ten Commandments' — Yul Brynner as the pharaoh in 'The Ten Commandments'. Wikimedia

17. A Warrior Pharaoh

Bible - Relief of Ramses II in Memphis depicting his capture of enemies, a Nubian, a Libyan, and a Syrian, circa 1250 BC — Relief of Ramses II in Memphis depicting his capture of enemies, a Nubian, a Libyan, and a Syrian, circa 1250 BC. Cairo Museum

A warrior through and through, Ramses II battled sea pirates, fought numerous campaigns in the Levant, and led several military expeditions into Nubia. He fought earliest battle in recorded history for which details such as tactics and formations are known, the Battle of Kadesh, 1274 BC. Six thousand chariots took part, which also made it the biggest chariot clash in history. It occurred against a backdrop of a generations-long rivalry between Egypt and the Hittite Empire of Anatolia, as they jockeyed to control the lands of Canaan between them. Early in his reign, which lasted from 1279 to 1213 BC, Ramses decided to finish off the protracted war once and for all. Over a period of years, he patiently assembled a powerful army, and built up supply depots.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.