Page:The Pharaohs and their people; scenes of old Egyptian life and history (IA pharaohstheirpeo00berkiala).pdf/200

 manhood, his beautiful young wife, and her children. An inscription tells us that—'To the sovereign of the two lands, son of the Sun, lord of crowns, Rameses Meri-amen, his loving lady, queen, and princess Nefertari, has built a temple at Abu by the waters. Grant him life for evermore!' In the great temple, Nefertari is only once depicted; here the children are grown up, and the sons follow their father to the battle. Rameses himself is older, the glow and ardour of early years have given way to the placidity and repose of later life, when his wars and his victories were over; for, though renowned as a conqueror, the greater part of his long reign passed by in peace. Nefertari herself does not seem to have lived long, and Rameses apparently was married two or three times; his last wife (so far as we can gather) was a foreign princess, whose hand was the pledge of lasting friendship and alliance between the two leading nations of the day.

The proposal came from Khetasir, king of the Kheta. A tacit respect for each other