Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 07.djvu/510

LEFT BAMESES 424 RAMNAGAB queens of the 18th dynasty. According to the Roman authors Troy was taken in the reign of Rameses 11. He is the sup- posed Sesostris of most authors, and his sarcophagus and mummy were found in Egypt in 1890. Rameses III. was the chief of the 20th dynasty, the Rhamp- sinitus of Herodotus, called Meriamoun, or beloved of Amnion, who defeated the Philistines, the Mashuash, and the Lib- yans, carrying on important wars from the 5th to the 12th year of his reign; he also made conquests in the 16th, and seems to have reigned 55 more years. He founded the magnificent pile of edi- fiAMESES II. fices of Medinat Habu, embellished Luxo-, Gurnah, and other parts of Egypt. In 1889 the sarcophagus and mummies of himself and his queen were discovered in Egypt in a marvelous state of preser- vation. Rameses IV. reigned a short time and performed no distinguished ac- tions. Rameses V., of whom inscriptions are found in Silsilis. Rameses VI., whose tomb at the Biban-El-Meluk con- tains some astronomical records, from which the date of his reign has been cal- culated at 1240 B. c. Rameses VII. VIII., IX., X,, and XI., undistinguished monarchs. Rameses XII., who reigned above 33 years, in whose reign the statue of the god Chons was sent from Egypt to the land of the Bakhten to cure a princess of the royal family of that court with which Rameses had contracted an alliance. Rameses XIII. was an impor- tant monarch. Rameses ?S also the name of one of the fortresses or treasure cities built by the Hebrews during their residence in Egypt. RAMESWARAM, a low sandy island in the Gulf of Manaar, between the main- land of India and Ceylon. It is about 11 miles long and 6 broad, and contains one of the most venerated Hindu temples in India, the resort of thousands of pil- grims. Pop. about 18,000. RAMIL, a plant producing what is popularly kno"WTi as China grass. The value of ramil as a textile fiber has long been known. China has been making ramil fabrics since the time of Confu- cius, and the ancient Romans wore robes woven of its silky floss. China not only supplies an enormous home demand, but also exports annually hundreds of mil- lions of pounds to foreign lands. The plants, which are indigenous to Asia, are now grown quite extensively in South America and other warm countries. The plant does well in the S. part of the United States and a finer fiber can be grown there than in the tropics. In such a climate the fiber is long, silky and brilliant, and textiles made from it are stronger than linen and have the luster of silk. One obstacle to the general use of this fiber has been the difficulty of ex- tracting the filaments from the rest of the stalk, but a machine has been in- vented by an American which removes this, RAMILLIES, a village of Brabant, Belgium; 14 miles N. of Namur; memor- able as the place near which. May 23, 1706, the French forces under Marshal Villeroy and the Elector of Bavaria were defeated by Marlborough, with the loss of almost all their cannon and baggage, and 13,000 killed and wounded.^ This victory compelled the French to give up the whole of the Spanish Netherlands. It was the scene of hard fighting in 1914 when the German armies overran Belgium. It was held by them until the closing months of the war, in 1918. RAMNAGAR, two towTis of India: (1) a town of the Northwestern Proy- inces; on the right bank of the Ganges, 2 miles above Benares. It contains a palace, the residence of the rajah of Benares, which rises from the banks of the sacred stream by a number of fine ghats or flights of stairs. There is^ a fort, and whips and wicker-work chairs are manufactured. (2) A town of the