Building Program of Ramses II

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Ramses II carried out a vast building program . He began by adding a great peristyle courtyard and pylon to the Temple of Amun in Luxor (that was built by Amenhotep III and completed by the last Eighteenth Dynasty Kings) . The courtyard was planned at a curious angle to the rest of the temple , presumably to create a straight line across the river to the site of the King's mortuary temple , the Ramesseum . Ramses II also built a temple for Osiris at Abydos (smaller than his father's , but equally beautiful) . During the rest of his reign , he gradually filled the country with temples and statues in his name , many of which he usurped from earlier rulers . Particularly impressive is the astonishing series of eight rock temples in Lower Nubia , including two at Abu-Simbel most of which must have been built by a work-force rounded up from among the local tribes , as is attested in the case of Wadi es-Sebua , built for the king by Setau , the Viceroy of Nubia .
Among the hundreds of statues of deities and kings that Ramses II usurped , those erected by Amenhotep III were particularly favored , as were those made by the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty , the great rulers of the classical period of Egyptian history .
Ramses II was also the king who expanded the city of Avaris and made it his great Delta residence calling it 'Piramesse' (House of Ramses) . Its location has long been disputed , but it has now been established that it is to be identified with the extensive remains at Tell El-Dab'a and Qantir in the Eastern Delta . The city was strategically situated near the road leading to the border fortress of Sile and the provinces in Palestine and Syria and also along the Pelusiac branch of the Nile , and it soon became the most important international trade centre and military base in the country . Asiatic influence had always been strong in the area , but now many foreign deities such as Ba'al , Reshep , Hauron , Anat , and Astarte , to mention only a few , were worshipped in Piramesse . Many foreigners lived in the city , some of whom eventually became high-ranking officials .