| Merneptah | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Merenptah | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg) Granodiorite bust of Merneptah,Egyptian Museum,Cairo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pharaoh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reign | 10 regnal years c. 1213–1203 BC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Ramesses II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Seti II/Amenmesse | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Consort | Isetnofret II Takhat (?) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | Seti II Merenptah Khaemwaset Isetnofret Amenmesse (?) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Father | Ramesses II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother | Isetnofret | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | c. 1283 BC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 2 May 1203 BC (aged 80) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Burial | KV8; Mummy found in theKV35 royal cache (Theban Necropolis) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dynasty | Nineteenth Dynasty | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Merneptah (/ˈmɛrnɛptɑː,mərˈnɛptɑː/[2]) orMerenptah (reigned July or August 1213–2 May 1203 BCE) was the fourth pharaoh of theNineteenth Dynasty ofAncient Egypt. According to contemporary historical records, he ruled Egypt for almost ten years, from late July or early August 1213 until his death on 2 May 1203.[3] He was the first royal-born pharaoh sinceTutankhamun of theEighteenth Dynasty of Egypt.[4]
Merneptah was the thirteenth son ofRamesses II,[5] only coming to power because all of his older brothers had died, including his full brotherKhaemweset.
He was around seventy years old when he ascended to the throne. He is arguably best known for theMerneptah Stele, featuring the first known mention of the nameIsrael. His throne name wasBa-en-re Mery-netjeru, which means "Soul ofRa, Beloved of the Gods".
Merneptah was likely the fourth child born toIsetnofret and Ramesses II, and his thirteenth son.[5][6][7][8] He was the first royal-born pharaoh sinceTutankhamun. He marriedIsetnofret II, who was likely his full sister or niece, who would becomeGreat Royal Wife when he was named pharaoh. They had at least two sons, Merenptah, named after his father, andSeti II. When Seti II became pharaoh, Tausret became his Great Royal Wife. She became pharaoh in her own right after the death of pharaohSiptah.
Takhat, the mother ofAmenmesse, may have been a secondary queen, though scholars are yet to confirm this.
Ramesses II lived well into his nineties and was one of the oldest pharaohs in Egyptian history. He outlived many of his heirs; eventually, Merneptah would be the son to succeed him. Merneptah would have been prepared to be pharaoh through the responsibility of his government roles. However, we know virtually nothing about Merneptah beforeYear 40 of Ramesses II, when he became Overseer of the Army (General).
InYear 55 of Ramesses II, he was officially proclaimedcrown prince. At that point, he gained additional responsibilities by serving as PrinceRegent for the last twelve years of Ramesses II's life.[9]
According to one reading of contemporary historical records, Merneptah ruled Egypt for almost ten years, from late July or early August 1213 BC until his death on 2 May 1203 BC.[3]
Merneptah moved Egypt's administrative center fromPi-Ramesses, his father's capital, back toMemphis, where he constructed a royal palace next to the temple ofPtah. ThePenn Museum, led byClarence Stanley Fisher, excavated this palace in 1915.
_I._19th_Dynasty._From_Egypt._The_Petrie_Museum_of_Egyptian_Archaeology%2c_London.jpg)
Merneptah had to carry out severalmilitary campaigns during his reign. In the fifth year of his rule, he fought against theLibyans, who—with the assistance of theSea Peoples—were threatening Egypt from the west. Merneptah led avictorious six-hour battle against a combined Libyan and Sea People force at the city of Perire, probably located on the western edge of theNile Delta. Hisaccount of this campaign against the Sea Peoples andLibu is described in prose on a wall beside the sixth pylon atKarnak, which states:
Later in the inscription, Merneptah receives news of the attack:
An inscription on the Athribis Stele, now in the garden of Cairo Museum, declares "His majesty was enraged at their report, like a lion", assembled his court, and gave a rousing speech. Later he dreamed that he sawPtah handing him a sword and saying "Take thou (it) and banish thou the fearful heart from thee." When the bowmen went forth, says the inscription, "Amun was with them as a shield." After six hours the survivingNine Bows threw down their weapons, abandoned their baggage and dependents, and ran for their lives. Merneptah states that he defeated the invasion, killing 6,000 soldiers and taking 9,000 prisoners. To be sure of the numbers, among other things, he took the penises of all uncircumcised enemy dead and the hands of all thecircumcised, from which history learns that theEkwesh were circumcised, a fact causing some to doubt that they wereGreek people.
There is also an account of the same events in the form of a poem from theMerneptah Stele, also known as theIsrael Stele, which mentions the suppression of revolts in Canaan and makes reference to the supposed utter destruction ofIsrael in a campaign prior to his fifth year, inCanaan: "Israel has been wiped out ... its seed is no more." This is the first recognised ancient Egyptian record of the existence of Israel—"not as a country or city, but as a tribe" or people.[11] A newly discovered massive layer of fiery destruction confirms Merneptah's boast about his Canaanite campaign.[12]
As soon as Merneptah died the succession apparently had become a problem, he was put in his tomb KV 8 but later removed, and his mummy has survived.
Merneptah was already an elderly man in his late 60s, if not early 70s, when he assumed the throne.[14]
Merneptah's successor,Seti II, was a son of QueenIsetnofret. However, Seti II's accession to the throne was not unchallenged: a rival king namedAmenmesse, who was either another son of Merneptah by Takhat or, much less likely, of Ramesses II, seized control ofUpper Egypt andKush during the middle of the reign of Seti II. Only after he overcame Amenmesse, was Seti able to reassert his authority overThebes in his fifth year. It is possible that before seizing Upper Egypt, Amenmesse had been known asMessuy and had been viceroy of Kush.
At Thebes, the Tomb of Merneptah (KV8) was in the Valley of the Kings.
Merneptah suffered fromarthritis andatherosclerosis and died as an old man after a reign that lasted for nearly a decade. He was originally buried within tombKV8 in theValley of the Kings, but hismummy was not found there. In 1898 it was located along with eighteen other mummies in the mummy cache found in the tomb ofAmenhotep II (KV35) byVictor Loret. His mummy was taken to Cairo and eventually unwrapped byG. Elliott Smith on July 8, 1907. Smith notes that:
The body is that of an old man and is 1 meter 714 millimeters [5'6"] in height. Merneptah was almost completely bald, only a narrow fringe of white hair (now cut so close as to be seen only with difficulty) remaining on the temples and occiput. A few short (about 2 mill) black hairs were found on the upper lip and scattered, closely clipped hairs on the cheeks and chin. The general aspect of the face recalls that of Ramesses II, but the form of the cranium and the measurements of the face much more nearly agree with those of his [grand]father, Seti the Great.[15]
In April 2021 his mummy was moved from theMuseum of Egyptian Antiquities to theNational Museum of Egyptian Civilization along with those of 17 other kings and 4 queens in an event termed thePharaohs' Golden Parade.[16]
Merenptah'sGreat Royal Wife wasIsetnofret II, who was or his full sister or her niece as daughter of his full brotherKhaemwaset.
They had at least four children:
Another his possible consort wasTakhat. If so, Merenptah would be the father of her sonAmenmesse, Seti II's rival for the throne.
Merneptah was the 13th son of Ramses II.
Merenptah was the 13th son and eventual successor of the famous Ramses II.
Already a man in his sixties, Merneptah had helped to manage state affairs for his father in the city of Pi-Ramesse and in the Delta and he now took on new responsibilities, ruling as prince regent for the elderly king throughout the last twelve years of his reign.
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