Ramses: The Son of Light

Name: Ramses: The Son of Light
Rating: 4.4 (445 reviews)

by Christian Jacq Book 1 in the Ramses series.

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4.3(445)

Ramesses grows up in the shadow of Seti I, learning the obligations of kingship while rivalries inside and beyond the court test his claim to future power. The novel follows his formation as prince, soldier and heir, with Egypt’s temples, scribes, priests and commanders forming the world he must learn to govern. It begins the series by presenting Ramesses as a young ruler shaped by training, ambition and the expectation of divine kingship.

Ramesses’s reign is especially useful for examining how Egyptian kingship was represented. Inscriptions and colossal monuments repeatedly present victory, divine favour and royal permanence, requiring the reader to distinguish political image from the more complicated results of campaigns such as Kadesh.

The biography also places his unusually large family and long reign within the problem of succession. The monuments that made Ramesses appear timeless were created by a court that still had to manage ageing, heirs and relations with neighbouring powers.