Usermare Akhenamun Ramesses VIII (also written Ramses and Rameses) or Ramesses Sethherkhepshef Meryamun ('Set is his Strength, beloved of Amun') (at 1130-1129 BC, or simply 1130 BC as Krauss and Warburton date his reign), was the seventh Pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt and was one of the last surviving sons of Ramesses III.

Ramesses VIII is the most obscure ruler of this Dynasty and the current information from his brief kingship suggests that he lasted on the throne for one year at the most. Some scholars assign him a maximum reign of two years. The fact that he succeeded to power after the death of Ramesses VII—a son of Ramesses VI—may indicate a continuing problem in the royal succession. Ramesses VIII's prenomen or royal name, Usermaatre Akhenamun, means "Powerful is the Justice of Re, Helpful to Amun." Monuments from his reign are scarce and consist primarily of an inscription at Medinet Habu, a mention of this ruler in one document—Berlin stela 2081 of Hori at Abydos—and one scarab. His only known date is a Year 1, I Peret day 2 graffito in the tomb of Kyenebu at Thebes.

Ramesses II (c. 1303 BC – July or August 1213 BC; Egyptian: *Riʻmīsisu, alternatively transcribed as Rameses  /ˈræməsiːz/ and Ramses /ˈræmsiːz/ or /ˈræmziːz/), referred to as Ramesses the Great, was the third Egyptian pharaoh (reigned 1279 BC – 1213 BC) of the Nineteenth dynasty. He is often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh of the Egyptian Empire. His successors and later Egyptians called him the "Great Ancestor." Ramesses II led several military expeditions into the Levant, re-asserting Egyptian control over Canaan. He also led expeditions to the south, into Nubia, commemorated in inscriptions at Beit el-Wali and Gerf Hussein.

At age fourteen, Ramesses was appointed Prince Regent by his father Seti I. He is believed to have taken the throne in his late teens and is known to have ruled Egypt from 1279 BC to 1213 BC for 66 years and 2 months, according to both Manetho and Egypt's contemporary historical records. He was once said to have lived to be 99 years old, but it is more likely that he died in his 90th or 91st year. If he became Pharaoh in 1279 BC as most Egyptologists today believe, he would have assumed the throne on May 31, 1279 BC, based on his known accession date of III Shemu day 27. Ramesses II celebrated an unprecedented 14 sed festivals (the first held after thirty years of a pharaoh's reign, and then every three years) during his reign—more than any other pharaoh. On his death, he was buried in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings; his body was later moved to a royal cache where it was discovered in 1881, and is now on display in the Cairo Museum.