| Ramesses I | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.jpg) Portrait of Ramesses I from his tomb inKV16. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pharaoh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reign | 2 regnal years 1292–1290 BC 1295–1294 BC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Horemheb | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Seti I | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Consort | Sitre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | Seti I | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Father | Seti | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 1290 BC or 1294 BC (agedc. 50s)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Burial | KV16; Mummy found in theDeir el-Bahriroyal cache (Theban Necropolis) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dynasty | 19th Dynasty | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Menpehtyre Ramesses I (orRamses) was the foundingpharaoh ofancient Egypt's19th Dynasty. The dates for his short reign are not completely known but the timeline of late1292–1290 BC is frequently cited[3] as well as1295–1294 BC.[4] While Ramesses I was the founder of the 19th Dynasty, his brief reign mainly serves to mark the transition between the reign ofHoremheb, who had stabilized Egypt in the late 18th Dynasty, and the rule of the powerful pharaohs of his own dynasty, in particular his sonSeti I, and grandsonRamesses II.
Originally calledParamessu, Ramesses I was of non-royal birth, being born into a noble military family from theNile Delta region, perhaps near the formerHyksos capital ofAvaris. He was a son of a troop commander calledSeti. His uncleKhaemwaset, an army officer, marriedTamwadjesy, the matron ofTutankhamun's[5] Harem ofAmun, who was a relative ofHuy, the viceroy ofKush, an important state post.[6] This shows the high status of Ramesses' family. Ramesses I found favor withHoremheb, the last pharaoh of the tumultuousEighteenth Dynasty, who appointed the former as hisvizier. As Paramessu, Ramesses also served as theHigh Priest ofSeth underAmenhotep III[7]—as such, he would have played an important role in the restoration of the old religion following theAmarna heresy of a generation earlier, underAkhenaten.Horemheb himself had been a nobleman from outside the immediate royal family, who rose through the ranks of the Egyptian army to serve as the royal advisor toTutankhamun andAy and, ultimately, pharaoh. Since Horemheb had no surviving children, he ultimately chose Ramesses to be his heir in the final years of his reign presumably because Ramesses I was both an able administrator and had a son (Seti I) and a grandson (the futureRamesses II) to succeed him and thus avoid any succession difficulties.
Upon his accession, Paramessu changed hisnomen, or personal name to Ramesses. This is transliterated asrʿ-ms-sw, and is usually realised as Ramessu or Ramesses, meaning 'Ra bore him'. Ramesses also assumed aprenomen, or royal name. When transliterated, the prenomen ismn-pḥty-rʿ, which is usually interpreted as Menpehtyre, meaning "Established by the strength ofRa". However, he is better known by his nomen of Ramesses. Already an old man when he was crowned, Ramesses appointed his son, the later pharaohSeti I, to serve as the Crown Prince and chosen successor. Seti was charged with undertaking several military operations during this time—in particular, an attempt to recoup some of Egypt's lost possessions inSyria. Ramesses appears to have taken charge of domestic matters: most memorably, he completed the secondpylon atKarnak Temple, begun under Horemheb.
Ramesses I reigned briefly, as evidenced by the lack of contemporary monuments mentioning him: the king had little time to build any major buildings in his reign and was hurriedly buried in a small and hastily finished tomb.[8] According to the Jewish historianJosephus, in his bookContra Apionem which translatedManetho's Aegyptiaca, Manetho assigns this king a reign of 16 months, but this pharaoh certainly ruled Egypt for a minimum of 17 months based on his highest-known[clarification needed] date which is a Year 2 II Peret day 20 (Louvre C57) stela which ordered the provision of new endowments of food and priests for thetemple ofPtah within the Egyptianfortress of Buhen.[9] In contrast, Ramesses I's son and successor, Seti I, assumed the throne five months later after the erection of this stela on III Shemu day 24 which means that Ramesses I had a minimum reign of 17 months (or one year and five months).[3] However, based on a papyrus document published by Robert J. Demarée in a 2023 publication, Demarée argues that Ramesses I's predecessor, Horemheb, died on III Shemu 22 based on evidence in Papyrus Turin Cat. 1898 + Cat. 1937 + Cat. 2094/244, which is a journal diary.[10] If confirmed, this would mean that Ramesses I actually had a reign of approximately two full years since he would have ascended to the throne around III Shemu 23 soon after Horemheb's death on III Shemu 22 and died about two years later around the very same day since Ramesses I's son, Seti I, succeeded his father on III Shemu 24.[11]
Ramesses I's only known action was to order the provision of endowments for the aforementioned Nubian temple at Buhen and "the construction of a chapel and a temple (which was to be finished by his son) at Abydos."[12]
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Ramesses was buried in the Valley of the Kings. His tomb, discovered byGiovanni Belzoni in 1817 and designatedKV16, is small in size and gives the impression of having been completed with haste.Joyce Tyldesley states that Ramesses I's tomb consisted of a single corridor and one unfinished room whose walls, after a hurried coat of plaster, were painted to show the king with his gods, with Osiris allowed a prominent position. The red granite sarcophagus too was painted rather than carved with inscriptions which, due to their hasty preparation, included a number of unfortunate errors.[8]
Seti I, his son and successor, later built a small chapel with fine reliefs in memory of his deceased father Ramesses I atAbydos. In 1911,John Pierpont Morgan donated several exquisite reliefs from this chapel to theMetropolitan Museum of Art in New York.[13]
A mummy currently believed to be that of Ramesses I was displayed in a private Canadian museum for many years before being repatriated. The mummy's identity cannot be conclusively determined, but is most likely to be that of Ramesses I based on CT scans, X-rays, skull measurements and radio-carbon dating tests by researchers atEmory University, as well as aesthetic interpretations of family resemblance. Moreover, the mummy's arms were found crossed high across his chest which was a position reserved solely for Egyptian royalty until 600 BC.[14]
The mummy had been stolen from theRoyal Cache inDeir el-Bahari by the Abd el-Rassul family of grave robbers and sold by Turkish vice-consular agent Mustapha Aga Ayat atLuxor[15][16] to Dr.James Douglas who brought it to North America around 1860. Douglas used to purchase Egyptian antiquities for his friend Sydney Barnett who then placed it in theNiagara Falls Museum. At the time, the identity of the mummified man was unknown.[17] The mummy remained in the museum through moves toNiagara Falls, New York andNiagara Falls, Ontario next to other curiosities for more than 130 years.[17] The mummy was displayed as a "A Prince of Egypt" but despite occasional speculation from visitors that he might be exactly that nothing further was done.[17]
When the owner of the museum decided to sell his property, Canadian businessmanWilliam Jamieson purchased the contents of the museum and, with the help of Canadian egyptologist Gayle Gibson, identified their great value.[18] In 1999, Jamieson sold the Egyptian artifacts in the collection, including the various mummies, to theMichael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University inAtlanta, Georgia for US$2 million.[17] The mummy was returned to Egypt on October 24, 2003, with full official honors and is on display at the Luxor Museum.[19]
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