Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt

History

Background

The warrior kings of the early 18th Dynasty had encountered only little resistance from neighbouring kingdoms, allowing them to expand their realm of influence easily, but the international situation had changed radically towards the end of the dynasty. The Hittites had gradually extended their influence into Syria and Canaan to become a major power in international politics, a power that both Seti I and his son Ramesses II would confront in the future.

19th Dynasty

Seti I and Ramesses II

The New Kingdom of Egypt reached the zenith of its power under Seti I and Ramesses II ("The Great"), who campaigned vigorously against the Libyans and the Hittites. The city of Kadesh was first captured by Seti I, who decided to concede it to Muwatalli of Hatti in an informal peace treaty between Egypt and Hatti. Ramesses II later attempted unsuccessfully to alter this situation in his fifth regnal year by launching an attack on Kadesh in his Second Syrian campaign in 1274 BC; he was caught in history's first recorded military ambush, but thanks to the arrival of the Ne'arin (a force allied with Egypt), Ramesses was able to rally his troops and turn the tide of battle against the Hittites. Ramesses II later profited from the Hittites' internal difficulties, during his eighth and ninth regnal years, when he campaigned against their Syrian possessions, capturing Kadesh and portions of Southern Syria, and advancing as far north as Tunip, where no Egyptian soldier had been seen for 120 years. He ultimately accepted that a campaign against the Hittites was an unsupportable drain on Egypt's treasury and military. In his 21st regnal year, Ramesses signed the earliest recorded peace treaty with Urhi-Teshub's successor, Hattusili III, and with that act Egypt-Hittite relations improved significantly. Ramesses II even married two Hittite princesses, the first after his second Sed Festival.

Merneptah and successors

Main article: End of the 19th Dynasty

This dynasty declined as infighting for the throne between the heirs of Merneptah increased. Amenmesse apparently usurped the throne from Merneptah's son and successor, Seti II, but he ruled Egypt for only four years. After his death, Seti regained power and destroyed most of Amenmesse's monuments. Seti was served at court by Chancellor Bay, who was originally just a 'royal scribe' but quickly became one of the most powerful men in Egypt, gaining the unprecedented privilege of constructing his own tomb in the Valley of the Kings (KV13). Both Bay and Seti's chief wife, Twosret, had a sinister reputation in Ancient Egyptian folklore. After Siptah's death, Twosret ruled Egypt for two more years, but she proved unable to maintain her hold on power amid the conspiracies and powerplays being hatched at the royal court. She was likely ousted in a revolt led by Setnakhte, founder of the 20th Dynasty.

Pharaohs of the 19th Dynasty

Main article: Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt family tree

The pharaohs of the 19th Dynasty ruled for approximately 110 years: from to 1187 BC. Many of the pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings in Thebes (designated KV). Royal brother-sister marriages were observed, as a means to strengthen the royalty by echoing the practices in their creation myths. More information can be found on the Theban Mapping Project website.

Comparison of regnal lists

Although the Nineteenth Dynasty is well-recorded, they aren't fully featured in many Egyptian king lists, mostly due to the surviving ones being written by the early Nineteenth Dynasty pharaohs. The Abydos king list was finished during the reign of Seti I while the Saqqara and Ramesseum king lists were finished during the reign Ramesses II, and so don't record the later pharaohs.

The only 2 surviving king lists that fully feature the Nineteenth Dynasty are the Medinet Habu king list from the time of Ramesses III of the Twentieth Dynasty, and Manetho, who lived during the Ptolemaic Kingdom. The Medinet Habu king list omits Amenmesse, Siptah and Twosret. Manetho's now-lost work Aegyptiaca also provided individual reign lengths, however the lengths seem to be inaccurate and later Epitomes of the work were misunderstood by various writers who conflated multiple kings into a single figure, failed to understand the number of kings in this dynasty.

Timeline of the 19th Dynasty

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea = top:100 bottom:100 right:100 left:100 AlignBars = early

DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:-1292 till:-1170 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:-1292

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Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas

BarData = barset:Rulers

PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till barset:Rulers

from: -1292 till: -1290 color:PA text:"Ramesses I (1292 BC – 1290 BC)" from: -1290 till: -1279 color:PA text:"Seti I (1290 BC – 1279 BC)" from: -1279 till: -1213 color:PA text:"Ramesses II (1279 BC – 1213 BC)" from: -1213 till: -1203 color:PA text:"Merneptah (1213 BC – 1203 BC)" from: -1203 till: -1199 color:PA text:"Amenmesse (1203 BC – 1199 BC)" from: -1203 till: -1197 color:PA text:"Seti II (1203 BC – 1197 BC)" from: -1197 till: -1191 color:PA text:"Siptah (1197 BC – 1191 BC)" from: -1191 till: -1188 color:PA text:"Twosret (1191 BC – 1189 BC)" barset:skip

Gallery of images

File:Tumba de Ramsés I, Valle de las Reyes (cropped).jpg|Ramesses I File:Pharaoh Seti I, detail of a wall painting from the Tomb of Seti I at the Valley of the Kings, Western Thebes, Egypt. Neues Museum.jpg|Seti I File:Ramses II British Museum.jpg|Ramesses II File:Buste de Meremptah (la Villette, 2023).jpg|Merneptah File:Twosret.jpg|Twosret File:Shabti of Siptah MET DP109391.jpg|Shabti of Siptah File:BayIrsu.jpg|Chancellor Bay File:Turin statue of Seti II.jpg|Seti II File:Twosret.jpg|Twosret

References

Bibliography

• Dodson, A., Poisoned Legacy: The Fall of the Nineteenth Egyptian Dynasty, AUC Press, 2010
• Dodson, A., Sethy I, King of Egypt: His Life and Afterlife, AUC Press, 2019

References

1. "The Rise of the Ramessides: How a Military Family from the Nile Delta Founded One of Egypt's Most Celebrated Dynasties".
2. N. Grimal, ''A History of Ancient Egypt'' (Oxford: Blackwell, 1992), pp. 256f.
3. Grimal, p. 270
4. (2025). "Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths and Brother-sister Marriage in the 18th Dynasty and the 19th Dynasty". Studies in Mythology.
5. "Sites in the Valley of the Kings". Thebanmappingproject.com.
6. J. von Beckerath (1997) (in German). ''Chronologie des Äegyptischen Pharaonischen''. Phillip von Zabern. p. 190
7. Lundström, Peter. "The Dynasties of Manetho".
8. https://pharaoh.se/ancient-egypt/dynasty/19/
9. Lundström, Peter. "The Dynasties of Manetho".