Ancient Egypt – End of the 19th Dynasty

dwworldhistory
3 days ago
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DW | Ancient Egypt

21 – End of the 19th Dynasty

Ancient Egypt - The First Intermediate Period

Welcome to the DW World History Series. In the last episode, we discussed the reign of Ramesses II and noted how he would outlive most of his sons before dying at the age of around 92 years old. His 13^th son, Merneptah, whose name means 'The Beloved of Ptah', was already in his late 60s when he took the throne. He moved the administrative center from Pi-Ramesses, back to Memphis where he constructed a royal palace next to the temple of Ptah. This biography highlights the successors to Ramesses II as Egypt experiences an end to the 19^th Dynasty.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0noZSHJnZQ

21.1 - Pharaoh Merneptah (1213-1203 BC)

Merneptah's father, Ramesses II, lived well into his nineties and was one of the oldest pharaohs in Egyptian history, if not the oldest. Merneptah was the thirteenth son of Ramesses II, only coming to power because all of his older brothers had died, including his full brother Khaemwaset. He would rule Egypt for almost ten years, from late July or early August 1213 BC until his death on May 2^nd, 1203 BC.

Merneptah would have been prepared to be pharaoh through the responsibility of his government roles. By year 40 of Ramesses II, Merneptah had been promoted to Overseer of the Army. In year 55, he was officially proclaimed crown prince. At that point, he gained additional responsibilities by serving as Prince Regent for the last twelve years of Ramesses II's life.

For the last years of Ramesses II's rule, peace had flourished on the Egyptian frontiers, but these times were changing. A flash revolt in southern Syria was quickly crushed. The Hittite king, Tudhaliya IV, began facing attacks on his northern borders by the Assyrians and sought assistance from Egypt after experiencing a famine from crop failure. Merneptah responded by sending grain.

On the western borders, the Libyans had been quietly infiltrating the Delta. In Year 5 of Merneptah's rule, they attempted an invasion while fermenting revolt in Nubia and the western oases. Rapid mobilization and a heavy preemptive strike in the oases brought victory and allowed him to turn south to crush the Nubian revolt.

Merneptah's Victory Hymn

Merneptah built his mortuary temple on the edge of the desert at Thebes. Like many of his predecessors, he was not averse to using earlier buildings as a quarry. His masons turned to the nearby mortuary temple of Amenhotep III. Now largely abandoned, he removed much of it, including a large stele that was turned around to create Merneptah's Victory Hymn.

This stele, discovered by Flinders Petrie in 1896, is now also known as the Israel Stele. It contains the earliest textual reference to Israel and the only reference from ancient Egypt. Petrie considered this stone to be his most famous discovery. At dinner that evening Petrie prophesied:

"This stele will be better known in the world than anything else I have found."

It was the first mention of the word "Israel" in any Egyptian text and the news made headlines when it reached the English papers. The stele is a black granite slab, over 10 feet high, and the inscription states that it was carved in the 5^th year of Merneptah. Most of the text glorifies his victories over enemies from Libya and their Sea People allies, but the final two lines mention a campaign in Canaan where Merneptah states he defeated and destroyed Ashkelon, Gezer, Yanoam, and Israel.

'Israel is devastated, her seed is no more.

Palestine has become a widow for Egypt.'

Tomb (KV8)

Merneptah was buried in tomb (KV8) in the Valley. This tomb has three sloping corridors (B, C, D) that lead to a well chamber (E) and a pillared chamber (F) with a side chamber (Fa). A central descent (F) and sloping corridor (G) lead to a chamber (H) beyond which is a second corridor (I) that slopes down to the vaulted burial chamber (J). This has side chambers (Ja-Jd) in the corners and a chamber (K) at the rear. Chamber (K) also has side chambers (Ka-Kc).

The burial chamber (J), located at the end of 160 meters of corridor, originally held a set of four nested sarcophagi. Each were carved in various stones that included alabaster, rose and black granite. The outer sarcophagus was so big that parts of the corridor had to have their doorjambs demolished and rebuilt to allow it to be brought in. These jambs were then rebuilt with the help of inscribed sandstone blocks which were then fixed into their place with dovetail clamps. The pillars in chamber (F) were removed to allow passage of the sarcophagus, but only two were replaced. The other two pillars may have been stolen by Paneb, a worker in the craftsman village at Dier el-Medina, for use in his own tomb.

The mummy of Merneptah was discovered in the 1898 cache of mummies found in the tomb of Amenhotep II. There is some evidence that Merneptah's Queen, Isisnofret II, was also buried in his tomb rather than in the Valley of the Queens, and that she predeceased him, but her body has not been identified.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_hRGyKFZrs

21.2 - Pharaoh Seti II (1203-1197 BC)

Merneptah's successor, Seti II, was a son of Isisnofret II who occupied the throne during a period known for dynastic intrigue and short reigns, and his rule was no different. During his rule, from 1203-1197 BC, he promoted Chancellor Bay to become his most important state official and built 3 tombs – KV13, KV14, and KV15 – for himself, his Senior Queen Twosret and Chancellor Bay in the Valley of the Kings. This was an unprecedented act on his part for Bay, who was of Syrian descent and was not connected by marriage or blood ties to the royal family.

Seti II expanded the copper mining at Timna Valley in Edom, building an important temple to Hathor, the cow goddess, in the region. It was abandoned in the late Bronze Age collapse, where a part of the temple seems to have been used by Midianite nomads, linked to the worship of a bronze serpent discovered in the area. Seti II also founded a station for a barge on the courtyard in front of the pylon II at Karnak, and chapels of the Theban Triad – Amun, Mut and Khonsu.

During Seti II's reign a rival king, named Amenmesse, seized control of Upper Egypt and Kush during the middle of Seti II's reign. This rival king was most likely another son of Merneptah. Although the details are lacking, Seti II was able to reassert his authority, but not before Amenmesse vandalized his tomb (KV15). Seti would, in response, destroy Amenmesse's tomb (KV10).

Tomb (KV15)

(KV15) was dug along a northwest to southwest axis, comprising of a short entry corridor (A) followed by three corridor segments (B, C, D) which terminated into a well room (E). The well was never cut into the floor. This then connected with a four-pillared hall with a central descent (F) and another stretch of corridor that was converted into a burial chamber (J).

The walls and ceilings of the chamber were covered with plaster and painted with Anubis jackals and two rows of deities, representing the followers of Ra and Osiris. Wall paintings in the well room were more unusual and showed the king in shrines in a number of different manifestations, for instance on the back of a panther or on a papyrus skiff.

Relatively little is known about the history of the tomb. Seti II was buried there, but he may have originally been buried with his wife Twosret in her tomb in KV14 and subsequently moved to the hastily finished KV15 tomb, perhaps by the later pharaoh Setnakhte, who took over KV14 for his own tomb. Seti's mummy was later moved to the mummy cache in tomb KV35; only the lid of his sarcophagus remains in KV15.

After Carter began to excavate the nearby tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62) in 1922, KV15 was used by his assistants as a makeshift laboratory for the cleaning and restoration of KV62's artifacts before their transport to the Cairo Museum.

Tomb (KV10)

(KV10) consists of an open entryway (A) followed by three corridors (B, C, D) with a small chamber off the right (west) wall of corridor B (side chamber Ba). No Well shaftwas cut into the floor of chamber E, and the cutting of side chamber Fa was never finished. Corridor G, following the pillared chamber F, has a Vaulted ceiling. The next corridor (H) was unfinished, but would have led to a Sarcophagus chamber, if completed.

The tomb's decoration, intended for Pharaoh Amenmesse, was later replaced with scenes for two royal women dating to the late 20^th Dynasty.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQSEqGHNDcA

21.3 – Pharaoh Siptah & Queen Twosret (1197-1190 BC)

Siptah ruled Egypt for almost six years as a young man, from 1197-1191 BC. Siptah was only a child of ten or eleven years when he assumed power since a medical examination of his mummy reveals the king was about sixteen years old when he died. His mummy reveals that he had a twisted leg indicative of cerebral palsy. The older Queen, Twosret, in effect ruled in her stepson's name.

Chancellor Bay

Initially Twosret was supported in her regency by the 'Chancellor of the Whole Land' Bay, a man whose unusual name implies that he may have been of Syrian descent. Bay's precise role is never made clear, but his claim to have 'established the king on his father's throne' indicates that he may have played a crucial role in installing and maintaining the young Siptah and Twosret as king. He was granted permission by the king to build a tomb in the Valley of the Kings, an unprecedented privilege for a commoner.

Bay is first revealed as Seti II's butler and personal scribe. By the time of Seti II's death, Bay had risen to the post of chancellor and played the role of 'Kingmaker'. Bay's status was so great at Siptah's court that on several of the young king's monuments the chancellor is shown on the same scale. This is the earliest occasion in which a commoner was depicted in such a manner. For four years Bay was the dominant figure in Egyptian politics; then, like Senenmut before him, he vanished.

Chancellor Bay, most likely, later fell out of favor at court, presumably for overreaching himself, and was executed in Year 5 of Siptah's reign, on orders of the king himself. Interestingly, news of his execution was passed to the workmen of Deir el-Medina and they were told to cease all work on decorating Bay's tomb since Bay had now been deemed a traitor to the state. He was never buried in his tomb (KV13), which was later reused in the 20^th Dynasty.

Tomb (KV13)

(KV13) consists of three corridors (B, C, D) followed by two chambers (E, F), two further corridors (G, H), two side chambers off the second (Ha-b), and a burial chamber (J). The tomb has suffered structural damage from floods, and all the ceilings of the tomb have collapsed.

The walls were probably decorated originally with painted plaster and relief. Severe floods have caused the loss of the plaster, however, and now only traces of decoration remain in places where the artist was working on thin plaster and the chiseling cut into the bedrock.

Siptah has left no record of any queen consort, although this does not mean, of course, that he did not marry. Presumably, with Twosret effectively ruling on his behalf, he or perhaps she, did not feel the need for another powerful female figure. Twosret, herself, could continue to perform the consort's role.

Tomb (KV47)

Siptah died a year after Bay's execution and was buried in the upper part of the Valley of the Kings. His tomb, (KV47), consists of three gently sloping corridors (B, C, D), followed by a chamber (E), a pillared chamber (F), two subsequent corridors (G, H), and a chamber (I) that leads through a passage with abandoned lateral cuttings for a burial chamber (J1). These are followed by the actual unfinished burial chamber J2, containing a granite Sarcophagus. The entrance of the tomb consists of a Ramp with divided stairs.

The tomb was left unfinished. Only the first corridors and chamber were plastered and decorated. His large red granite sarcophagus still remains in the unfinished burial hall, but his body, notable for its deformity of a club foot, was found in the cache in the tomb of Amenhotep II, in 1898.

Siptah's death at just 20 years old, left Egypt without an obvious heir. Now Twosret stepped forward, apparently unopposed, to become a fully-fledged king.

Superficially, the circumstances of her ascent – the lack of a son, the young stepson, and the prominent male supporter – recall the circumstances of Hatshepsut's reign, some 250 years earlier. But while Hatshepsut had inherited a flourishing kingdom with a stable political infrastructure, Twosret faced a rapidly escalating political crisis. Since Ramesses II, the royal family had grown feeble and was plagued by infighting. Ramesses II had left far too many descendants, each with an equally weak claim to the throne. The empire, once an unfailing source of revenue, was starting to dwindle. There was inflation, occasional food shortages, and sporadic civil unrest on the Theban west bank. Meanwhile, on the western border, various Libyan tribes were threatening the security of the Nile Delta.

Twosret's reign lasted a mere two years, and had little impact on the archaeological record. She continued Siptah's regnal years that allowed later historians to completely overlook her reign. Her only substantial monuments are the unfinished mortuary temple that stood to the south of the Ramesseum, and her Valley of the Kings tomb, (KV14).

Tomb (KV14)

This tomb had a checkered history; begun under Siptah in Year 2, it was extended by Twosret, possibly to receive the burials of herself and her husband, Seti II. But it was later usurped by Setnakhte, the first king of the 20^th Dynasty.

The tomb entrance of (KV14) is cut into the base of the cliff face at the end of the southwest branch of the main Wadi. The short open entryway (A) is followed by three corridors (B, C and D) decorated in sunken relief with scenes of the queen accompanying Siptah (subsequently changed to Seti II) before various deities, followed by representations of the guardians of the portals of the realm of Osiris from the Book of the Dead. Chamber (E) had no shaft cut into its floor. It was succeeded by pillared chamber (F) with a central descent but without the usual flanking pair of pillars.

There are two corridors (G and H) beyond the descent, followed by a chamber (I). There is a side chamber (Ga) off the left (south) wall of corridor (G), thought by some to have been intended as a burial chamber in an earlier phase of the tomb's construction. The first burial chamber (J1) has a vaulted ceiling and sunken floor flanked by two rows of four pillars on benches to the front (east) and rear (west). Four unfinished side chambers are located at the corners of burial chamber (J1). The corridor (K1) to the west, with two side chambers (K1a, K1b), represents an abandoned start of the cutting of a second burial chamber. A second corridor (L) leads to the ultimate, second burial chamber J2, of larger dimensions than the first one. This chamber also has a sunken central floor and vaulted ceiling flanked by two rows of four pillars on benches to the front (east) and rear (west).

The four side chambers were completely cut, but undecorated, and only the front (east) wall of this burial chamber received preliminary drawings for decoration. A broken sarcophagus and lid are located right (north) of the center of the sunken floor. An unfinished axial corridor (K2) to the rear (west) has an abandoned gateway cutting in each side.

Twosret's reign ended in civil war. It is not known if she was overthrown by her successor or whether she died peacefully in her old age.

We follow the life of the last great king of Egypt, Ramesses III, in the next episode.