The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt

by Toby Wilkinson

  The meager evidence for the preroyal career and succession of Ramesses I is gathered together by Daniel Polz, “Die Särge des (Pa-)Ramessu,” while Alain-Pierre Zivie, “Ramses I,” summarizes what is known of the king’s brief reign. Wolfgang Helck, “Probleme der Königsfolge,” deals with the general question of royal succession at the end of the Eighteenth and beginning of the Nineteenth dynasties.

  For the temple of Seti I at Abdju, see A. M. Calverley and M. F. Broome, The Temple of King Sethos I at Abydos. The Nauri Decree is discussed in detail by Francis Llewellyn Griffith, “The Abydos Decree of Seti I at Nauri.” For Seti I’s sepulchre at Thebes, see Erik Hornung, The Tomb of Seti I, with a useful summary in Nicholas Reeves and Richard H. Wilkinson, The Complete Valley of the Kings (pp. 136–139).

  Seti I’s Asiatic wars are documented in a series of reliefs at Ipetsut, analyzed by William Murnane, The Road to Kadesh, which is also a good source for the development of Egyptian-Hittite relations, the expansion of the Hittite Kindgom, the role of vassal rulers such as Abdi-Ashirta and Aziru of Amurru, and the role of the mysterious Mehy in the reign of Seti I. For the last, see also William Murnane, “The Kingship of the Nineteenth Dynasty.” For the view that Seti I may originally have designated Mehy as his heir, see William Murnane, The Road to Kadesh (pp. 163–175); an alternative view is proposed by Morris Bierbrier, “Elements of Stability and Instability.”

  1. Horemheb, coronation inscription, lines 4–5.

  2. Ibid., line 25.

  3. Horemheb, edict, preamble, lines 9–10.

  4. Ibid., section 9, line 4.

  5. Ibid., line 6.

  6. Ibid., lines 8–9.

  7. Ibid., preamble, line 8.

  8. Seti I, Nauri Decree, lines 89–93.

  9. Seti I, Kanais temple inscription, text B, lines 1–2.

  10. Ibid., line 6.

  CHAPTER 16: WAR AND PEACE

  As befits his monumental legacy, Ramesses II has been the subject of countless studies, scholarly and popular. The classic text, by the world expert on Ramesside inscriptions, is Kenneth Kitchen, Pharaoh Triumphant, supplemented by two accessible summaries, “Pharaoh Ramesses II and His Times” and “Ramesses II.” For a good recent account and interpretation of the Battle of Kadesh, see Anthony Spalinger, War in Ancient Egypt. The site of Kadesh itself is described by its excavator, Peter Parr, “Nebi Mend, Tell.” For Hittite battle tactics and the role of the Hittite chariotry, see J. G. Macqueen, The Hittites. William Murnane, “The Kingship of the Nineteenth Dynasty,” explores the propaganda value of Ramesses II’s accounts of the battle and the reasons for him giving them such prominence on his monuments.

  For Ramesses’s extensive building projects, a useful summary is Bernadette Menu, Ramesses the Great. Gloria Rosati, “The Temple of Ramesses II at El-Sheikh Ibada,” publishes the results of recent fieldwork close to Amarna. Ramesside work at Ipetsut and Luxor, together with the Ramesseum, is discussed by William Stevenson Smith, The Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt. The most convenient summary of the temples at Abu Simbel is Lisa Heidorn, “Abu Simbel.” For the capacity of the Ramesseum granaries, see Barry Kemp, Ancient Egypt (1st ed., fig. 69).

  The location of Per-Ramesses offered easy access to the Near East by sea and land, and was ideal as a campaign headquarters. Our knowledge of the city is growing all the time, thanks to ongoing excavations by a German team. For the latest results, see Josef Dorner, “Die Topographie von Piramesse”; Edgar Pusch, “Towards a Map of Piramesse”; and Edgar Pusch, Helmut Becker, and Jörg Fassbinder, “Wohnen und Leben.” A reconstruction of the city based upon the ancient sources is presented by Eric Uphill, Egyptian Towns and Cities. For industrial installations and workshops at Per-Ramesses, see Thilo Rehren and Edgar Pusch, “Glass and Glass-making.” The bronze foundries are discussed by Edgar Pusch, “Recent Work at Northern Piramesse,” and by Edgar Pusch and Anja Herold, “Qantir/Pi-Ramesses.” For the chariotry stables, see Edgar Pusch, “ ‘Pi-Ramesse-geliebt-von-Amun,’ ” and David Aston and Edgar Pusch, “The Pottery from the Royal Horse Stud.” The location of the biblical Pithom is confirmed by John Holladay, “Pithom,” while the problem of the Exodus is conveniently addressed by John Bimson, “The Israelite Exodus.”

  Ramesses’s campaigns in Syria-Palestine after the Battle of Kadesh are charted by Kenneth Kitchen, Pharaoh Triumphant. The most up-to-date works on the Hittite Kingdom, and specifically the rise and fall of Urhi-Teshup and the reign of Hattusili III, are Trevor Bryce, The Kingdom of the Hittites, and Theo van den Hout, “Khattushili III, King of the Hittites.” The primary publication of the correspondence between the Egyptian and Hittite courts is Elmar Edel, Die ägyptisch-hethitische Korrespondenz, with a useful summary by Ogden Goelet, “Ramesses-Hattusilis Correspondence.” A cuneiform tablet from Per-Ramesses that may be part of this diplomatic correspondence was published by Patricia Spencer, “Digging Diary 2003” (pp. 26–27). For details of the royal citadel at Hattusa and the layout of the Hittite capital, see J. G. Macqueen, The Hittites. The recent discovery of a Ramesside royal palace in the northern Sinai, perhaps used by diplomatic brides on their way to Egypt, is published by Dominique Valbelle and François Leclère, “Tell Abyad.”

  For Libyan links with the Mediterranean and the fortresses built by Ramesses II to defend his Libyan frontier, see Steven Snape, “Ramesses II’s Forgotten Frontier.” Colleen Manassa, The Great Karnak Inscription of Merneptah, offers a magisterial account of the Libyan invasion in the fifth year of Merenptah’s reign, together with discussions of Mery’s strategy, the Battle of Perirer itself, and Merenptah’s wider response to the threat posed by the Sea Peoples. The various peoples who made up the mercenary force fighting alongside Mery are listed in the Egyptian account as Akawash (perhaps to be equated with Homer’s Achaeans), Turesh (who may have given their name to the Tyrrhenian region of Italy), Lukka (Lycians), Sherden (after whom Sardinia may have been named), and Shekelesh (who may have given their name to Sicily). For the identity of the Sea Peoples, a convenient summary is Anthony Leahy, “Sea Peoples.” Robert Drews, The End of the Bronze Age, argues for the critical importance of advanced military technology in the military success of the Sea Peoples.

  1. Ramesses II, Battle of Kadesh “poem,” line 56.

  2. Ramesses II, treaty with the Hittites (Karnak version), lines 9–10.

  3. Ramesses II, first Hittite marriage inscription, line 34. (“Your Majesty’s border” appears only in the Karnak version of the text; the Abu Simbel version gives “His Majesty’s border.”)

  4. Merenptah, great Karnak inscription, line 13.

  CHAPTER 17: TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY

  For the disputed succession following the death of Merenptah, see Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families (pp. 176–177); Nicholas Reeves and Richard Wilkinson, The Complete Valley of the Kings (pp. 150–158); and two articles by Aidan Dodson, “Amenmesse” and “Messuy, Amada, and Amenmesse.” Dodson argues that Amenmesse is to be equated with Messuy, viceroy of Nubia under Merenptah. If this is true, Amenmesse would have had a political power base, considerable economic resources, and the Nubian garrisons to support his claim to the throne. For an alternate view, see Frank Yurco, “Was Amenmesse the Viceroy of Kush, Messuwy?” Dodson further suggests that Amenmesse seized power in the area south of the Fayum after Seti-Merenptah had already come to the throne, but the majority of scholars argue that he seized the kingship immediately upon the death of Merenptah. I have followed the majority view.

  The reign of Siptah is discussed by Cyril Aldred, “The Parentage of King Siptah.” The career of Chancellor Bay is discussed by Pierre Grandet, “L’exécution du chancelier Bay,” and Toby Wilkinson, Lives of the Ancient Egyptians (no. 77).

  The primary source for the beginning of the Twentieth Dynasty is the stela of Sethnakht from Abu, published by Rosemarie Drenkhahn, Die Elephantine-Stele des Sethnacht, and which is further analyzed by Donald Redford, “Egypt and Western Asia in the Late New Kingdom,” and Stepha
n Seidlmayer, “Epigraphische Bemerkungen zur Stele des Sethnachte.” The stela of Bakenkhonsu, discovered at Karnak in 2006 but not yet fully published, provides the highest known regnal year for Sethnakht, namely a “year four.” It also refers to civil disturbances in Thebes that resulted in damage to statues inside the temple of Amun-Ra at Ipetsut. See Mansour Boraik, “Re-writing Egypt’s History.” Although not certain, Sethnakht’s geographical origins are suggested by the fact that, under his son Ramesses III, several men from Bast were promoted to high office; it is tempting to see them as childhood friends of Ramesses III, from the same region of the eastern delta.

  The best treatment of Ramesses III’s reign, with full references to primary sources, is Pierre Grandet, Ramsès III, with a convenient summary by the same author in his article “Ramesses III.” For the great battle against the Sea Peoples in the eighth year of the king’s reign, see, inter alia, Nancy Sandars, The Sea Peoples, and Eliezer Oren (ed.), The Sea Peoples and Their World, especially David O’Connor, “The Sea Peoples and the Egyptian Sources.” Many attempts have been made to identify the origins of the various groups of Sea Peoples, based upon their distinctive names. For example, the Tjeker (Teucrians) have been associated with the region around Troy and the Weshesh with the city itself, on the assumption that “Weshesh” is an Egyptian corruption of Wilusa/Ilios, the ancient name of Troy. The Denyen have been identified with the Danaoi or mainland Greeks, but are perhaps more likely to have originated in southeastern Turkey or northernmost Syria. If the Peleset originally came from Anatolia as well, they are better known for their subsequent settlement along the coast of the southern Near East, where they became known as the Philistines (and gave their name to modern Palestine). The origins of the Shekelesh are obscure, but it seems likely that later groups of them settled in the western Mediterranean, giving their name to the island of Sicily. If we look beyond names to the military technology of the Sea Peoples, the design of their ships suggests connections with the Mycenaean world but also connections further afield with the Bronze Age Urnfield culture of central Europe (see Shelley Wachsmann, “To the Sea of the Philistines”). The complex origins of the Sea Peoples are discussed by Philip Betancourt, “The Aegean and the Origin of the Sea Peoples,” Shelley Wachsmann, “To the Sea of the Philistines,” and Louise Steel, “The ‘Sea Peoples’: Raiders or Refugees?” The Sea Peoples’ ultimate destiny is explored by Lucia Vagnetti, “Western Mediterranean Overview.” Itamar Singer, “New Evidence on the End of the Hittite Empire,” presents vivid evidence for the devastation wrought by the Sea Peoples throughout the eastern Mediterranean.

  The reliefs from the mortuary temple of Ramesses III, including the famous scenes depicting the battle against the Sea Peoples, are published by the Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu. For the inspection of temples in year fifteen of Ramesses III’s reign; for Ramesses III’s building projects; and for the expeditions to Sinai, Timna, and Punt, see Pierre Grandet, Ramsès III. The foreign mining expeditions are described in the Great Harris Papyrus (P. Harris I: 77.8–78.1 and 14a.7–8).

  The primary publication of the Turin Strike Papyrus, a contemporary account of the strikes by the necropolis workmen, remains William Edgerton, “The Strikes in Ramesses III’s Twenty-ninth Year.” Pierre Grandet, Ramsès III, gives a useful narrative account (in French). For the original texts, see Kenneth Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions (vol. V, pp. 529–530, 542; vol. VII, pp. 300–302).

  For the harem conspiracy and the tribunal set up to investigate it, see Adriaan de Buck, “The Judicial Papyrus of Turin.” The use of black magic by the conspirators is disputed by Hans Goedicke, “Was Magic Used in the Harem Conspiracy,” but the evidence of the contemporary papyri seems clear.

  1. Bay, Gebel el-Silsila inscription, lines 8–9.

  2. Ostracon O.IFAO 1864, recto, line 3.

  3. Great Harris Papyrus I, 75, 4.

  4. Sethnakht, Elephantine stela, line 15.

  5. Ibid., line 4.

  6. Ibid., line 5.

  7. RS 20.238 (translation after Michael Astour, “New Evidence on the Last Days of Ugarit,” p. 255).

  8. Ramesses III, great inscription of year eight, Medinet Habu, lines 16–17.

  9. Ibid., lines 16–18.

  10. Ibid., lines 20–21.

  11. Robert Drews, The End of the Bronze Age, p. 3.

  12. Ramesses III, Turin Strike Papyrus, recto 1, line 2.

  13. Ibid., recto 2, lines 2–5.

  14. Ibid., lines 14–15.

  15. Ibid., lines 15–17.

  16. Ramesses III, harem scenes, Medinet Habu.

  17. Ramesses III, Turin Judicial Papyrus, 4:2.

  18. Ibid., 3:2.

  CHAPTER 18: DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD

  A vivid, if bleak, picture of peasant life in ancient Egypt is painted by Ricardo Caminos, “Peasants,” in stark contrast to the rose-tinted descriptions of other authors. A Tale of Woe by the same author offers a translation and commentary on the tale of Wermai from the late New Kingdom. For the institution of corvée labor, see Kathlyn Cooney, “Labour,” and Christopher Eyre, “Work and the Organisation of Work in the New Kingdom.” For the high death rate on mining expeditions, see John Baines, “Society, Morality, and Religious Practice” (pp. 136–137). The reign and monuments of Ramesses IV, including the Wadi Hammamat expedition and the Abdju inscription, are discussed in detail by A. J. Peden, The Reign of Ramesses IV. The tomb of Ramesses IV is notable chiefly for its sarcophagus. At ten and a half feet in length and seven feet high, it is the largest ever used in the Valley of the Kings. But it, too, was finished in haste.

  Despite a relative abundance of documentation, the late Twentieth Dynasty remains one of the least-known periods of ancient Egyptian history, certainly in terms of political developments. For a good summary, see Kenneth Kitchen, “Ramses V–XI.” The Turin Indictment Papyrus, detailing the misdeeds of Khnumnakht, is discussed by A. J. Peden, The Reign of Ramesses IV (pp. 69–72), and by Pierre Grandet, Ramsès III (pp. 218–219).

  The survey of landholdings in Middle Egypt commissioned by Ramesses V is known today as the Wilbour Papyrus. The standard edition is Alan Gardiner, The Wilbour Papyrus, while Ogden Goelet, “Wilbour Papyrus,” offers a helpful summary of the document’s salient features. For the mummy of Ramesses V, see John Harris and Edward Wente, An X-Ray Atlas of the Royal Mummies. Useful discussions of the titulary and monuments of Ramesses VI include Kenneth Kitchen, “The Titularies of the Ramesside Kings,” and Amin Amer, “Reflections on the Reign of Ramesses VI.” A papyrus from the late Ramesside Period refers to “the year of the hyenas” as a euphemism for famine. For the Libyan incursions at Thebes, see A. J. Peden, The Reign of Ramesses IV (pp. 20–22). The last evidence for Egyptian contact with its former territories in the Near East is a statue base from Megiddo inscribed with the name of Ramesses VI. The career of Ramessesnakht is traced in Toby Wilkinson, Lives of the Ancient Egyptians (no. 79).

  The tomb robberies of the late Twentieth Dynasty have been discussed by many authors. The essential edition of the original papyrus accounts is Eric Peet, The Great Tomb-Robberies. Among other helpful accounts are Cyril Aldred, “More Light on the Ramesside Tomb Robberies,” and Ogden Goelet, “Tomb Robbery Papyri.”

  For the transition between the end of the Ramesside Period and the succeeding Libyan Dynasties, a useful account (though now superseded in several important respects) is Andrzej Niwinski, “Le passage de la XXe à la XXIIe dynastie.” The chronology of Ramesses XI’s reign, including the suppression and restoration of the high priest Amenhotep, the civil war between the forces of Panehsy and Paiankh, and the proclamation of the renaissance, is a hotly debated topic with two broad schools of thought. The traditional interpretation, which places Herihor before Paiankh, is presented by Kenneth Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt. The radical revision, placing Paiankh before Herihor, was originally proposed by Karl Jansen-Winkeln, “Das Ende des Neuen Reiches,” and has been taken up by authors such as Jacobus van Dijk, �
��The Amarna Period” (p. 302), and John Taylor, “Nodjmet, Payankh and Herihor.” Despite being refuted in detail by several scholars, notably Jürgen von Beckerath, “Zur Chronologie der XXI. Dynastie,” the revision has much to recommend it and has been followed here.

  The letters between Paiankh and Nodjmet are translated in Edward Wente, Letters from Ancient Egypt. For the systematic plunder of the royal necropolis, which started under Paiankh, see Karl Jansen-Winkeln, “Die Plünderung der Königsgräber des Neuen Reiches.” John Taylor, “Nodjmet, Payankh and Herihor,” proposes a prominent role for Nodjmet in the succession from Paiankh to Herihor, and from the Twentieth Dynasty to the Twenty-first Dynasty. The abandonment of Per-Ramesses and the foundation of a new capital at Djanet (classical Tanis) are discussed by Geoffrey Graham, “Tanis.”

  1. Ricardo A. Caminos, “Peasants,” p. 24.

  2. Ibid., p. 20.

  3. Ramesses IV, Wadi Hammamat inscription of year three, line 6.

  4. Ramesses IV, great Abydos stela, line 21.

  5. Ramesses IV, second Abydos stela, line 35.

  6. Merenptah, Libyan inscription, line 22.