Two Circles (aten) two seasons. Each is a solar disk, the ordinary symbol of Ra, but here means season, because seasons depend on the sun.
Shoot (renpa) year. This is a shoot of a palm tree; with one notch it equals year.
The following hieroglyphs are obscure, but the highest authorities say that they probably mean, “that he might repose by means of them;” that is, that Thothmes hoped that repose might be brought to his mind from the fact that he made due offerings to his gods at the two appointed seasons.
CHAPTER XII.
Rameses II.
The lateral columns of hieroglyphics on the London Obelisk are the work of Rameses II., who lived about two centuries after Thothmes III., and ascended the throne about 1300 B.C. Rameses II. was the third king of the XIXth dynasty; and for personal exploits, the magnificence of his works, and the length of his reign, he was not surpassed by any of the kings of ancient Egypt, except by Thothmes III.
His grandfather, Rameses I., was the founder of the dynasty. His father, Seti I., is celebrated for his victories over the Rutennu, or Syrians, and over the Shasu, or Arabians, as well as for his public works, especially the great temple he built at Karnak. Rameses II. was, however, a greater warrior than his father. He first conquered Kush, or Ethiopia; then he led an expedition against the Khitæ, or Hittites, whom he completely routed at Kadesh, the ancient capital, a town on the River Orontes, north of Mount Lebanon. In this battle Rameses was placed in the greatest danger; but his personal bravery stood him in good stead, and he kept the Hittites at bay till his soldiers rescued him. He thus commemorates on the monuments his deeds;