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ANCIENT EGYPT explores the WORLD WIDE WEB ...

THE RAMESSIDE KINGS - PART ONE

This month’s NETFISHING continues its look at the history of Egypt by seeing what the World Wide Web has to say about Rameses IV, V and VI, ‘The Ramesside Kings’, rulers of the latter Twentieth Dynasty.

The reign of Rameses III marks a watershed in the fortunes of Egypt, for he was the last great builder of the Pharaonic age. After him a whole series of kings used the name Rameses for the remainder of the Twentieth Dynasty but none of them were able to emulate the feats of their predecessors, Rameses II and Rameses III. The history of the remainder of the Twentieth Dynasty is a complicated one, consisting of brief reigns of many kings, and increasingly administrative power began to devolve to the priesthood of Amun, at Thebes. Refer:

http://www.touregypt.net/hdyn20b.htm

http://euler.slu.edu/~bart/egyptianhtml/kings%20and%20Queens/Ramesses_IV_-_XI.html

http://members.tripod.com/anubis4_2000/mummypages2/20A.htm#Ramesses%20V

RAMESES IV

The son of Rameses III, and one of the intended victims of the famous ‘Harem Conspiracy’, Rameses IV survived to take the throne and bring the culprits of the conspiracy to justice. His reign was a short one, however, and in hindsight it seems primarily concerned with the acquisition of fine stone for great building works that were never completed. Trips were made to the turquoise mines in Sinai and several expeditions were sent to the Wadi Hammamat. The most famous of these expeditions consisted of 8,368 men, 2,000 of whom were soldiers – so it is clear Rameses had great plans for monumental work. A stela at Abydos (dated to Year 4 of his reign) records a prayer to Osiris for a long life – so perhaps his health was already failing – and the king died after only six years on the throne. He was succeeded by his brother and was buried in KV2. Interestingly, an ancient plan of the royal tomb survives (in Turin) which shows the royal sarcophagus surrounded by four rectangles drawn on the papyrus. It was only with the opening of the burial chamber of King Tutankhamun in the 1920’s that these were discovered to be representations of the four gilded shrines which protect the royal sarcophagus. Despite this protection, Rameses IV’s tomb was violated by robbers and his body finally found refuge in KV35, the ‘royal cache’ tomb of King Amenhotep II. Refer:

http://touregypt.net/featurestories/ramessesiv.htm

KV2 http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ramessses4t.htm

http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/sites/browse_tomb_816.html

http://www.panoramas.dk/2008/flash/valley-of-the-kings.html

http://ib205.tripod.com/kv2.html

http://www.narmer.pl/kv/kv02en.htm

RAMESES V

The brief, four-year, reign of Rameses V is entwined with that of his brother (Rameses VI). A civil war appears to have taken place, at least in the area around Luxor, and the workmen of Deir el Medina village were forced to stop work on the construction of the royal tomb (KV9). This was most probably connected with Libyan incursions into the area and Rameses V appears to have been unable to resolve the problem on a long-term basis as they continued into the reign of his successor, Rameses VI. These incursions even appear to have prevented the burial of Rameses V itself, as an inscription records that this took place in the second year of his brother’s reign. So was there a co-regency between these two kings, or was the ‘civil war’ a war between different factions of the royal family itself ? The body of Rameses V (again found in the cache tomb of Amenhotep II) appears to show signs of an infection of smallpox, and this is taken to be the most probable reason for the kings death after only four years on the throne. He was most probably buried in KV9 – the ‘royal tomb’ completed by his brother and successor, Rameses VI. Refer:

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Ramesses_V

http://www.phouka.com/pharaoh/pharaoh/dynasties/dyn20/04ramses5.html

RAMESES VI

Egypt’s standing in the world continued to decrease in the reign of Rameses VI; Libyan attacks continued in the early part of his reign and overseas possessions were lost to other powers. Mining in the Sinai ceased, and the ‘empire’ contracted until it left the lands of the Eastern Mediterranean entirely. Rameses VI did not even build a new tomb for his burial, but decided instead to enlarge and complete the earlier tomb (KV9) built by his brother. The resulting rubble from these excavations duly concealed the entrance of the earlier Eighteenth Dynasty tomb of King Tutankhamun (KV62) and so, to our good fortune, protected it for posterity.

KV9 was, however, a masterpiece of royal decoration and is one of the few royal tombs to have been fully published in modern times. Rameses VI did not fare sas well himself, and after an eight year reign his mummy was savagely ransacked for jewellery shortly after his burial in KV9. Refer:

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Ramesses_VI

Tomb KV9: http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ramessesvit.htm

http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/sites/browse_tomb_823.html

http://www.osirisnet.net/tombes/pharaons/ramses6/e_ramses6.htm

http://www.narmer.pl/indexen.htm

Victor Blunden

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