Why did Ramses II marry his daughter as queen?

Ramses II was the most famous pharaoh of ancient Egypt, and Nefertari was his favorite queen.

Nefertari means beauty in Egyptian. She was the first queen of Ramses II and is said to be the granddaughter of Tutankhamun's pharaoh Ay.

Nefertari and Ramses II were married before they succeeded to the throne. They were about fifteen years old at the time and they were a teenage couple. She was a famous beauty in ancient Egypt at that time. Not only was she favored by Ramses II, but also many people fell in love with her. Everyone in the palace was conquered by her charm. While Ramses II favored her, he also gave her supreme rights. She was regarded as a living god in the world.

Ramses II had eight queens in his life, but the love of his life was only Nefertari. It is said that the queen was the most beautiful woman in ancient Egypt: she had eyes as bright as gems, a face as charming as the moon, and a plump and enchanting figure. In order to please her, Ramesses II ordered a lotus pond to be built outside her palace. The rare and precious blue lotus was planted in the lotus pond.

The blue lotus blooms every evening and closes in the afternoon. The breeze blows everywhere and fills the palace with fragrance. Nefertari was very fond of incense. She ordered her maid to pick the petals of newly bloomed flowers in the evening, pound them with lavender and olive oil to extract the juice, and apply them all over her body. This makes her skin elastic, delicate, smooth, youthful and beautiful.

Perhaps even the gods were jealous of Nefertari’s peerless beauty. When Ramses II ruled for about thirty years, the most beautiful woman in ancient Egypt died of illness. Ramses II was very sad, built a temple for her, and buried her ceremoniously in the Valley of the Queens.

There were many beauties in the palace of Ramses II, but he still could not forget Nefertari. Their eldest daughter grew up to be as beautiful as her mother, like Nefertari's shadow. In ancient Egypt, in order to maintain the purity of the bloodline, not only brothers and sisters could intermarry, but fathers and daughters, and mothers and sons could also marry. So Ramses II married his eldest daughter with Nefertari as his fourth queen.

Ramses II engraved his confession to his beloved Queen Nefertari on the tombstone of her: My love for you is unique - because you are the most beautiful in the world Yes, no one can replace it. When you walked gently by my side, you took away my heart.