- "I have been granted sheaves of wheat like sand, buildings that approach heaven, and grain heaps like mountains."
Ramses II (c. 1303 BC – July or August 1213 BC), also known as Ramses the Great or as the Great Ancestor by his successors, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Commonly regarded as the greatest pharaoh of the New Kingdom, during his reign he constructed great temples, cities and monuments, and led several campaigns into Nubia and the Levant to secure Egypt's borders. He leads the Egyptians in Civilization VI.
Who says that wonders are their own reward? So it is with Ramses, who gets large amounts of Culture for completing wonders and a small amount for finishing buildings.
Intro[]
Ramses, pharaoh of the black land and the red, beloved like Horus, your imperious face gazes out across the desert in countless stone images. Others claim to be God’s messenger, but you claim to be the sun incarnate. From temples built from the living rock of Egypt, your command calls your people to you. Rule now, and may none stand against the rising flood.
In-Game[]
Ramses II's unique agenda is Ma'at. He will clear all features and improve all possible tiles, and likes civilizations who do the same. He dislikes civilizations with few improved tiles or that found National Parks.
His leader ability is Abu Simbel. He receives Culture equal to 15% of the Production cost after completing a building, and 30% after completing a wonder.
Detailed Approach[]
With a nice river start, Egypt gains bonuses towards wonders and districts. Wonders are a great source of Culture with Ramses’ Abu Simbel ability that gives 30% of the construction cost as Culture. The Sphinx then gives even more Culture if placed adjacent to these Wonders. The Maryannu Chariot Archer will protect Egypt while they focus on construction, leading to a Culture Victory.
Lines[]
Ramses II is voiced by Hani Ahmed Abdelhay. He speaks reconstructed Ancient Egyptian (with modern Egyptological pronunciation ignoring the original vowels).
Voiced[]
Codename | Quote (English translation) | Quote (Ancient Egyptian) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Agenda-based Approval | We build that our name will not die out. | Ketne ten bo erinu en met. | |
Agenda-based Disapproval | Do you think that you can cultivate sand? | Bi teri kik nitis ka ek sha'i? | |
Attacked | Fire your arrows at the sun. Strike your swords against the flood. It will have the same effect. | Si ti aha uwten er bara. Howi nek o'iten bau djinu. Iu ef er dyi kisibedet! | |
Declares War | Look upon my armies, ye mighty, and despair. | Maha er mi sha’u, isimu sher. | This is a reference to a line from "Ozymandias," a sonnet by Percy Bysshe Shelley. The actual line is "Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!" |
Defeated | Defeat me, but my monuments will stand over the glory that was Ramses, king of kings. | Howiwi, wibu e minu aha er ba how ep bro’em Ramses, nisut en nisitu! | |
Greeting | I am Ramses, beloved of Amun. Every country trembles before me, fear in their hearts. | Inek Ramses, meri Amun. Aiset nib er si da em ba, e neyru em myibu ten. | |
Quote from Civilopedia | I have been granted sheaves of wheat like sand, buildings that approach heaven, and grain heaps like mountains. | Ri du isutu em shaï hina. Mi iru nit iam bit hina. Ni bertut em djiu. | This is a modified version of an inscription on Abu Simbel, attributed to the god Ptah: "I give to you constant harvests, the sheaves are like sand, the granaries approach heaven, and the grain heaps are like mountains". |
Unvoiced[]
Delegation: I bring to you a small glimpse of the wonders of Egypt: jewels of gold and lapis, ivory and bone. These cost many deben, but we have them in abundance.
Accepts Player's Declaration of Friendship: It is done. A partnership between the black land of Horus and yours.
Rejects Player's Declaration of Friendship: To sit at the same table? To agree as equals? I think not.
Requests Declaration of Friendship: Shall you be a friend to the eternal kingdom?
Player Accepts Declaration of Friendship: So it shall be; a union as of Osiris and Isis!
Player Rejects Declaration of Friendship: We have no peer.
Denounced by Player: Did a jackal bark, just now?
Denounces Player: I shall let you rave on, that all will know you to be mad.
Too Many Troops Near His Border: The sun does not abide other lights in the sky when it shines. So I cannot abide your forces near me.
Invitation to Capital: I invite you to visit our lands, though you will despair to see its glory, and salt the river with your tears.
Invitation to City: I can tell you of the heart of the sun, and the eternal change of the rivers. And you can tell me of wherever you're from.
Civilopedia entry[]
Iconic for the New Kingdom of Egypt, Ramses’s reign is marked not by anything distinctive but by a series of exemplary moments – military conquests, monumental architecture, etc. Here is the arrogance and might of the pharaoh made flesh.
Many of our leaders come from obscurity to greatness. Pachacuti was the second son of a royal dynasty and was never intended to lead the Inca. Cleopatra was the subject of a foreign kingdom that rose into rebellion. Not so with Ramses, the son of Seti.
While Seti’s family was not originally royal, they emerged in the wake of the social and religious upheaval of Akhenaten, who sought to create a new religious order and under whose rule (and subsequent rule of Tutankhamun), Egypt’s foreign borders declined. Seti sought to correct this – expanding Egyptian power to end the Hittite domination of the Levan and re-establishing Egypt as a far-flung empire whose borders extended far beyond the Nile. Ramses showed promise early, and his father appointed him as regent at the age of ten. Seti’s reconsolidation of Egyptian power was outward-looking in other ways, incorporating Syrian deities into the thought-to-be monolithic and conservative Egyptian state.
In his early years, Ramses sent warriors to subdue Libya and retake Syria from the Hittites and, in a brilliant strategical maneuver against Sardinian pirates, captured the entirety of the rebel fleet by allowing them certain victories that lulled them into complacency. Another significant point in his expansion was the Battle of Kadesh (in Syria), where an overextended Egyptian force, personally led by the pharaoh, almost captured the city of Kadesh, under Hittite rule, but then was forced to retreat. What might have been a demoralizing defeat turned into victory, as the Egyptians used the time to rethink their strategies and push the war to a draw. The resultant peace treaty became the balance of power in the region.
At home, Ramses embarked on a construction spree, most notably the temples at Ramesseum and Abu Simbel, ensuring that his name – often under its Greek version, Osymandyas (Ozymandias in Percey Shelley's celebrated poem) – lived through the ages.
Ramses died well into his nineties, giving Egypt nearly seven decades with him on the throne. His name is now synonymous with Egyptian power, arrogance, and might (rightly or wrongly).
Trivia[]
- Ramses II's release in Civilization VI marks the fifth time he has led Egypt in the Civilization franchise. He was only absent from Civilization III and the Civilization Revolution games, where Egypt was led by Cleopatra instead.
- Ramses II's name is spelled differently than it usually is in the Civilization games. The only other game to call him "Ramses" instead of "Ramesses" is Civilization III, in which he appears as an Egyptian Military Leader.
- Ramses II's leader ability is named after the great rock-cut temples he constructed at Egypt's southern border, near Nubia, while his agenda is named after the Egyptian goddess of truth, balance and justice.
- Ramses II carries a crook and wears a Uraeus, two common pharaonic symbols.
- Ramses II's diplomacy screen shows the Pyramids at sundown.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Related achievements[]
Valley of Kings
Win a regular game as Ramses II.
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Walk Like an Egyptian
As Egypt build a Sphinx adjacent to the Pyramids both on Desert Floodplains
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See also[]
- Ramses II in other games