Ramses II and Shihuangdi are among the most famous rulers in their respective kingdoms. On one side, Ramses 11 was the third pharaoh of the 19 th Dynasty of Egypt which later became one of the kingdoms that constituted the New Egyptian Kingdom. Under his reign, the Egyptians experienced one of the most prestigious booms in economic, cultural, administrative as well as military aspects. On the other hand, Shihuangdi was the Qin Dynasty’s first emperor (Clements, 2016). Despite his tyrannical style of governance, Shihuangdi often referred to as the colossal superman and whose leadership composed a Chinese dynasty that has lasted for more than two-thousand years.
Ramses employed well organized and planned methods in his administration such as the signing of treaties with his empires enemies to ensure that his kingdom was peaceful as well as there was no eruption of violence in the future. For example, his peace treaty with the Hittites meant ended the constant clashes between the two kingdoms and is considered to be the first peace treaty in the ancient world’s history. In instances where the army lost essential battles, Ramses II used propaganda to mitigate tension within the people. His army was also organized in small units that were named after different ancient Egyptian gods (Velikovsky, 2010). On the contrary, Shihuangdi employed very tyrannically, and dictatorship methods to rule his people and were famously known for executing academicians who held varying views about his rule on top of burning decisive books that enlightened the people. Unlike Shihuangdi, Ramses II sought the help of academicians in different fields that ranged from engineering to philosophy in the construction of his territory and the infrastructure within it.
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Ramses II also observed the existing form of governance as well as power hierarchy that his predecessors had observed for years. He did not show any alteration in the ancient ruling method that acknowledged the Pharaoh as the central unifying entity of the whole dynasty. His lack of change of the leadership hierarchy and structure is attributed to the state of the dynasty at the time of his accession to power. The dynasty was stable in economic, social and political aspect. On the other hand, Shihuangdi rose to power at a time when the Chinese dynasties were divided, and hence one of his primary responsibility was to unite them. Unlike Ramses II, Shihuangdi chose very radical and tyrannical method; he first overturned the previous existence of emperors in China and declared himself the “First Emperor” before subdividing the Chinese first into thirty-six and later forty-eight commands or rather military districts with each having three employees (a civilian governor, military governor as well as a direct representative from the central government) whose responsibility was to monitor each other (Clements, 2016). All the staff were then divided into eighteen hierarchical orders whose functions were to implement taxation acts as well as uniform laws in every corner of China.
Moreover, the two leaders had exceptional performance records. Ramses II is regarded as the pharaoh who has an outstanding record of creating the highest number of monuments in the history of ancient Egyptian dynasties. The hypostyle hall of Karma in Thebes and his father’s funerary temple in Abydos are some of his memorable works (Velikovsky, 2010). Ramses II was also responsible for destroying the temples in Amarna city that were the last vestiges of the Akhenaten era, a pharaoh who attempted to declare Aton the supreme deity. He used the stone blocks from these temples to construct the city of Hermopolis which is found on the opposite bank of Amarna. Similarly, Shihuangdi also carried out a number of great projects that defined his administration. He commissioned the construction of the first large wall and a huge mausoleum which had more than six-thousand life-size terracotta soldiers figures. Many of the recruits who constructed the wall died in the process, and those who survived the construction were killed to preserve the secrecy of the tomb. In addition, Shihuangdi came up with unified weights as well as coins that were used to facilitate the transit of goods as well as imposed religious practice through which he forced the people to pay homage to his image (Clements, 2016).
Despite the positive aspect of the two leaders, their respective dynasties were affected by constant violence. In the case of Shihuangdi, persecution of dissenters, suppression of other religious practices, burning of decisive books, and exploiting the labor of the lower classes were constant reasons that forced the people to engage his military in bloody revolutions (Velikovsky, 2010). On the other hand, Ramses II faced a crucial war situation after he crossed the Sinai and recaptured Tiro a territory found in the Mediterranean coast where and settled there. His intention to conquered Kadesh, a Hittites territory saw the Hittite’s attack him with a large number of soldiers with no prior warnings, which saw many of his soldiers lose their lives while others opted to run away. Ramses II was also lucky to rule a loyal and a unified culture. As a pharaoh, Ramses II was a religious and a political leader revered by his people. He was the voice of gods to the people, and his word became the law (Fagan, & Scarre, 2016). Similarly, Shihuangdi also ruled people who were unified and more concerned about preserving their history that was highlighted by massive ideal works.
In conclusion, the comparison of these two dynasties suggests numerous lessons on effective leadership skill in the contemporary politics. First, a leader should have a master plan of his administration that will ensure an extensive network of leaders is distributed in every part of the country to help raise the concerns of the people. He or she should give the needs of the people the priority as they are the reasons they are in power. Finally, it is important to employ different forms of governance and evaluate situations to avoid violent conformation and unnecessary wars that lead to massive deaths of soldiers and civilians.
References
Clements, J. (2016). The first emperor of China . Sutton.
Fagan, B. M., & Scarre, C. (2016). Ancient Civilizations . Routledge.
Velikovsky, I. (2010). Ramses II and his Time (Vol. 2). Paradigma Ltd.
