King Ramesses II led several expeditions into lands east of the Mediterranean Sea. He also led expeditions into Nubia. In the early times of being the king he focused on building cities, temples, and monuments. He made the city Pi-Ramesses in the Nile delta, his new capital and main base for his campaigns in Syria. He had over 5 campaigns in Syria. That city was built on the remains of the city Avaris. Avaris was the capital of the Hyksos when they took over. Ramesses II also built a temple called the Ramesseum. It was built between Qurna and the desert that has been know as the Ramesseum also since the 19th century. The temple was a huge amazing and famous temple. Now it is only a few ruins. An emourmous pylon stood before the first piece of the temple with the royal palace to the left and the gigantic statue of the king sticking out of the back. Only pieces of the torso reamain. The full statue was 56 feet high and weighing over 1000 tons.