Ramses III.

Name of Ramses III.
Ramses III. with an incense offering, tomb painting from KV11
Horus name	Ka-nechet-aa-nesit K3-nḫt-ˁ3-nsyt Strong bull, with great royalty
Sideline	Who-habu-sed mi-Tatenen Wr-ḥˁb.w-sd-mj-T3 TNN United at Sedfesten as ( Ptah -) Tatenen
Gold name	User-renput-mi-Atum Wsr-rnp.wt-mj-Jtm Rich in years like Atum
Throne name	User-maat-Re-meri-Amun Wsr-m3ˁt-Rˁ-mrj-Jmn Strong is the truth of Re, beloved of Amun
Proper name	Ramesisuheqaiunu (Ra mes su heqa Iunu) Rˁ msj sw ḥq3 Jwnw Re is the one who gave birth to him, ruler of Heliopolis

Ramses III. (* around 1221 BC ; † April 7, 1156 BC ) was an ancient Egyptian king ( Pharaoh ) of the 20th Dynasty ( New Kingdom ). He took over on 17th Peret III (December 18th) 1188 BC. Chr. The regency, was born on 26 Schemu I (February 25) v 1187th . Chr crowned and ruled until 1156 v. Chr.

Other names

• Horus name : With great kingship , also a powerful lion, with a strong arm, lord of clout who captured the Asians , or with magnificent monuments, who satisfied the Lord with his benefits , or who expanded Egypt, with abundant clout, with a strong arm kills the Libyans , or a bull with a strong arm, which sharpens the two horns, with firm willpower, with great strength on the battlefield of valor , or a powerful bull, with mighty clout, with a strong arm, of which there is fear in the countries and the Foreign countries, who annihilated the Libyans , or with mighty force, who attacks hundreds of thousands, who unitedly forces those attacking him down under his soles , or with numerous monuments, or lord of sed festivals such as Tatenen , the with shining apparitions (or: crowns) , or Beautiful on the throne like the son of the [goddess] Isis , or lord of lifetimes like his father Re , or son of Amun (...) , or king with gr o monuments and great miracles, the Karnak fills in favor of his name , or Who makes the appearances great like the horizon by shining, the life of the subjects , or beautiful as a king like Atum , whom one loves and desires like the majesty of Re
• Nebtiname : Great at Sedfeste like ( Ptah ) Tatenen , also rich in strength like his father Month , destroyer of the nine bows , conqueror in their land , or who performs the Maat for the (gods) ninth, who celebrates the temples every day makes , or great at sed festivals like Tatenen, who tramples the Libyans down to heaps of corpses in their place
• Gold name : Rich in years like Atum , also divine when it emerged from the womb, excellent and intelligent egg (that means: still unborn king of Harachte ), or beautiful and powerful as an image of the gods and goddesses who increase their sacrifices , or brave , Possessor of strong arms, who sets the limits at his discretion in the rear of his enemies

family

Ramses III. was the son and successor of Sethnacht . His Great Royal Wife was Isettahemdjert , the daughter of a stranger with an Akkadian name, Habasillatu. Since two of his sons are referred to as firstborns and must therefore have different mothers, at least one concubine Ramses III. adopted, but whose name is not attested. The sons include the princes Amunherchepeschef (with grave QV55 in the valley of the queens), Chaemwaset , another Amunherchepeschef (later Ramses VI. ), Sethherchepeschef (later Ramses VIII. ), Ramses Meriatum and the successor as Pharaoh, Ramses IV . Apart from the three successors were all princes in the valley of the queens buried.

A concubine, Teje, gave birth to a son whose name was not known, who is referred to as " Pentawer " in the trial files of the harem conspiracy (see below) .

Domination

Ramses III statue in Luxor

The dating of the reign of Ramses III. is based on an inscription from the seventh year of reign: On the 9th of Schemu III, Amun-Re , the king of the gods, rested in the house of millions of years of Ramses III. in the temple of Amun in the west of Thebes . The Egyptologist Rolf Krauss refers in this connection to the festival calendar and the associated connection to the ancient Egyptian lunar calendar . The rest of Amun-Re is traditionally tied to a new moon day in the second and third months of the Schemu season , which is why the date of the 9th Schemu III was only 1181 BC. B.C. as the seventh year of government comes into question. Adding up the elapsed six years of government results in 1187 BC. BC as the time of the coronation, the Ramses III. Celebrated on the 26th of Schemu I as a union and coronation festival.

Defensive battles

During his reign, Egypt was threatened by foreign forces. Alleged repeated advances by Libyan tribes (including the Isabats ) are doubtful, since the description of a war in Libya in the 5th year of Ramses III's reign. shows very strong parallels to the Libyan War of Merenptah and the representation in Medinet Habu could therefore have been copied from the Temple of Merenptah; There is also described another victory against the Libyans advancing again in the 11th year of the reign. The " sea ​​peoples attacks" at sea and - from the Syrian-Canaanite area - on land very probably actually took place in the time of Ramses III. happened.

Description of the victory over the sea ​​peoples in the mortuary temple of Ramses III.

Accordingly, in the 8th year of his reign, an alliance of peoples attacked Egypt, whose original origin is described as "on the islands in the middle of the sea". According to Egyptian descriptions, these aggressors, which modern research calls “sea peoples”, are said to have defeated a number of countries in the eastern Mediterranean , including Arzawa , the Hittite Empire , Alašija , Karkemish and Amurru . A sea battle is described in detail in which the sea peoples in the Nile Delta were lured into the trap and beaten.

The Great Papyrus Harris , which shortly after the death of Ramses III. originated, also mentions battles against sea peoples and reports of an attempt by these peoples to invade Egypt on land. The immediate danger for Egypt could Ramses III. turn away, but his country lost power. Both Palestine , where he settled the two sea peoples, the Peleset ( Philistines ) and Tjeker , and Syria were subsequently lost.

Construction activity

Mortuary temple of Ramses III. in Medinet Habu

Evidence of his extensive building activity can be found in Abydos , Athribis , Heliopolis , in Karnak and Luxor as well as in West Thebes . The impressive "House of Millions of Years" in Medinet Habu, which was completed while the king was still alive, is famous . It served as a place of worship for Amun-Re and the king who was united with him, and inscriptions such as monumental reliefs testify to his warlike deeds. However, some of the monuments of Ramses II were apparently copied. For example, a campaign against Amurru and Hatti is indicated at the high entrance gate , which must have led via Syria to Asia Minor. However, this cannot possibly be achieved in the time of Ramses III. have taken place.

The building material for the temple complex came from the large sandstone quarries in Jabal al-Silsila . After completion, Ramses III. set up two steles there, showing him optionally with Amun-Re and Hapi as well as with the Theban triad Amun, Mut and Chons . In this context, the king noted the 15th and 16th Schemu III in his festival calendar as additional festive days, on which sacrificial festivals for Amun-Re, Hapi and Mut were to be celebrated in both Jabal as-Silsila and in the Karnak Temple .

The construction of the tomb in the Valley of the Kings and the prince's tombs in the Valley of the Queens resulted in the first documented strike in history ( strike of Deir el-Medineh ). In the 29th year of the reign , on 10 Peret II (November 4th) 1159 BC. BC , hungry workers stopped building. At that time the workers were paid on the basis of grain units, i.e. with food. Your complaint We are hungry! is documented in the papyrus that is kept in the Museo delle antichità egizie di Torino under the inventory number p1880 .

Domestic politics

Ramses III statue from Temple C of the Mut district in the Temple of Karnak

As a vizier during the reign of Ramses III. are Hori and Ta known Viceroy of Kush ( Nubia ) was Hori III. , Mayor of Thebes was Paser and high priest of Amun in Thebes were Bakenchons , Usermaatrenacht and Ramsesnacht .

Apart from the extensive donations in favor of the gods, whose participation enables the king to ward off evil ( Isfet ) and to bring Maat to fruition, the domestic policy is only fragmentarily documented.

Ramses III secured his generosity. the support of a powerful priesthood. Above all, the large temple districts in Karnak and Medinet Habu, in Heliopolis and Memphis were richly provided with lands, farm workers and artisans, food deliveries, precious metals, copper and tax revenues. According to the British Museum's Harris I papyrus , which contains a detailed list of royal gifts, at the end of the reign the Temple of Amun in Karnak alone owned 86,486 people, 433 gardens , 83 transport ships, 46 shipyards, 65 towns and villages, 9 of them in Palestine , 421 362 cattle and land holdings of 864 168 Aruras, which corresponded to a tenth of the fertile arable land.

Under the weak successors, the property of Amun-Re increased considerably through further regular grants, immunity decrees and special foundations, so that towards the end of the 21st dynasty the domain of the god was almost congruent with Upper Egypt. At that time, the high priest of Amun-Re was in fact ruler of Thebes, while the Pharaoh, who resided in Tanis or Memphis, was only nominally considered the king of Upper and Lower Egypt.

Harem conspiracy

Ramses III. in the temple of Karnak

Several documents from the time of Ramses IV's successor describe a court case involving a conspiracy involving members of the royal family, concubines of the king and high dignitaries of the court, the army and the harem administration.

A concubine of the king, Teje, and her son (referred to as Pentawer in the documents) are considered to be the originator of the conspiracy. It is disputed whether Ramses III. In the 32nd year of his reign he fell victim to this intrigue: one cannot rule out that the conspirators did not plan to murder the already seriously ill king (he suffered from advanced arteriosclerosis ), but wanted to use his natural death, the son of Teje to bring to the throne. Computed tomography tests performed on the mummy in 2012 revealed a deep incision in the neck, suggesting that the pharaoh had been murdered.

The accuser was the late Ramses III. The reason for this is the belief of the Egyptians that the king who became god controls events in this world even after his death . So the deceased instructed the court to find the guilty and to convict them. Two judges were later on trial themselves because they had attended a feast with the wives of some of the accused.

All but one of the accused were found guilty. Punishments ranged from cutting off the nose and ears to execution or, for some high-ranking officials, orders to commit suicide. Pentawer was also found guilty: “[the judges] left him [alone] in his room; he took his own life. ”The documents received do not reveal what punishment Teje was imposed.

The date of death 15th Schemu III (April 7th) 1156 BC. BC fell on the first holiday of the festival of sacrifice for the deities Amun-Re and Hapi. Various Egyptologists nevertheless suspected a connection with the celebrations of the valley festival , since it was the last recorded festival in contemporary sources:

“May you come out and enter the necropolis of Thebes without your step being hindered in its cemetery. May you stand in the western part of Thebes on that day of the water journey. May you see the King of the Gods in his great mystery, the Father of the Gods in his glorious form. May you go to the Lord of the Gods in the temple among the blessed at the valley festival. "

- Texts Medinet-Habu

The valley festival was from Ramses III. scheduled as a two-day celebration for the second month of the Schemu season. In order to establish a connection with the valley festival, James H. Breasted and Hans Goedicke drafted the thesis that Ramses III. the palace intrigue survived seriously injured for 21 days. Accordingly, the attack would be on 23/24. Schemu II takes place, which requires a valley festival date around the 21st Schemu II . Neither Breasted nor Goedicke could give evidence or evidence for this assumption. However, your assumption would be compatible with the injuries found on the mummy (see above). Erik Hornung and Wolfgang Helck refuse due to the long period between the beginning of the festival and the death of Ramses III. and because of the lack of evidence, the theory of a Talfest palace intrigue in the 32nd year of government.

Rolf Krauss sees the possibility of a Talfest context only if the Minfest , which took place a month before, was postponed together with the Talfest. Like the Talfest, the Minfest was tied to the lunar calendar, which is why a postponement can be ruled out under these circumstances. Rolf Krauss also refers to the content of a graffiti from the seventh year of Ramses III's reign. with the there for the 9th Schemu III. documented offerings to Amun-Re. Since the lunar dates are repeated every 25 years in the Egyptian lunar calendar, in the 32nd year of the reign of Ramses III. contrary to the assumption of Breasted and Goedicke, the 9th Schemu III. again as a holiday in connection with the deity Amun-Re part of a ceremony. The valley festival is not mentioned in the information from the seventh year of government.

Cause of death and mummy

Head of the mummy

Investigations of the mummy Ramses III. with a computer tomograph showed a 7 cm wide wound on the king's neck, which is otherwise covered by the mummy bandages, which cannot be removed for conservation reasons. It was found that both the esophagus and the windpipe and all blood vessels in the fifth to seventh cervical vertebrae were completely severed. The doctors ruled that such a wound would lead directly to death. It is almost impossible that the injury was caused by the embalming, as it is a one-off phenomenon. During the embalming, a Horus amulet with a diameter of 15 mm was placed in the wound, which was supposed to help heal wounds. This investigation could not clarify the exact circumstances of the death, but a conspiracy and a related violent death is becoming more and more likely, according to scientists.

The king's mummy was found after 74 days on 24 Achet I (June 20) 1156 BC. Chr. In grave KV11 buried in the Valley of the Kings. Investigations of his mummy show that Ramses III. was about 65 years old. Due to the activities of grave robbers , priests in the 22nd dynasty under Scheschonq I embed the mummy in the cachette of Deir el-Bahari . It is now in the Egyptian Museum (Cairo) . The sarcophagus tub is on display in the Louvre in Paris , while the lid is in Cambridge .

literature

• Darrell D. Baker: The Encyclopedia of the Egyptian Pharaohs, Volume I: Predynastic to the Twentieth Dynasty (3300-1069 BC). Bannerstone Press, London 2008, ISBN 978-1-905299-37-9 , pp. 312-316.
• Jacobus van Dijk: The Luxor Building Inscription of Ramesses III. In: Göttinger Miszellen (GM) 33 , Göttingen 1979, pp. 19-30.
• Aidan Dodson : Rameses III, King of Egypt. His Life and Afterlife. The American University in Cairo Press, Cairo 2019, ISBN 978-9774169403 .
• Pierre Grandet: Ramses III. Histoire d'un règne. Pygmalion / G. Watelet, Paris 2009, ISBN 978-2-8570-4408-6 .
• Erik Hornung : The New Kingdom. In: Erik Hornung, Rolf Krauss, David A. Warburton (eds.): Ancient Egyptian Chronology (= Handbook of Oriental studies. Section One. The Near and Middle East. Volume 83). Brill, Leiden / Boston 2006, ISBN 978-90-04-11385-5 , pp. 197-217 ( online ).
• Kenneth Anderson Kitchen : Ramesside Inscriptions: Historical and Biographical / V. Blackwell, Oxford 1983, ISBN 0-903563-40-1 .
• Susanne Martinssen-von Falck: The great pharaohs. From the New Kingdom to the Late Period. Marix, Wiesbaden 2018, ISBN 978-3-7374-1057-1 , pp. 163–170.
• Alessandra Nibbi: The Chief Obstacle to Understanding the Wars of Ramesses III. In: Göttinger Miszellen 59 , Göttingen 1982, pp. 51-60.
• Thomas Schneider : Lexicon of the Pharaohs. Albatros, Düsseldorf 2002, ISBN 3-491-96053-3 , pp. 233-236.
• Wolfgang Waitkus: On the interpretation of some apotropaic gods in the graves in the valley of the queens and in the grave of Ramses III. In: Göttinger Miszellen 99 , Göttingen 1987, pp. 51-82.

Web links

Commons : Ramses III.  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Ramses III. on Digital Egypt
• Ramses III. on Touregypt (engl.)

Remarks

1. ^ ^{A b} Siegfried Schott: Ancient Egyptian festival dates . Verlag der Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Mainz / Wiesbaden 1950, p. 67.
2. ↑ Dating from Thomas Schneider and Rolf Krauss.
3. ↑ Rosemarie Drenkhahn: The elephantine stele of the Sethnacht and its historical background. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1980, ISBN 344702089X , p. 68.
4. ^ Aidan Dodson, Dyan Hilton: The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. The American University in Cairo Press, Cairo 2005, ISBN 977-424-957-7 , p. 190.
5. ^ Rolf Krauss: Sothis and moon dates . Gerstenberg, Hildesheim 1985, p. 138 and p. 207.
6. ↑ Eberhardt Zanger: A new battle for Troy. Archeology in Crisis. Knaur, Munich 1994, ISBN 978-3-426-26682-3 , p. 34 ff .; Wolfgang Helck saw in the sea peoples attack a rebellion of Egyptian mercenaries and auxiliary troops, whereas both the fall of Ugarit and that of the Mycenaean palace centers were due to seismic catastrophes - see also p. Wolfgang Helck: The sea peoples in the Egyptian sources. In: Annual report of the Institute for Prehistory at the University of Frankfurt am Main. Munich 1976, pp. 7-21. Helck later relativized his reinterpretation of the sea peoples reports.
7. ↑ ^{a b} S. Schott: Ancient Egyptian festival dates. Mainz / Wiesbaden 1950, p. 109.
8. ↑ The Strike of the Grab Builders ( Memento of the original from August 31, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: judithmathes.de , accessed on January 27, 2012. 
9. ↑ The 10th day of the 2nd month of Peret corresponds to November 14th in the proleptic calendar.
10. ↑ In the Egyptian royal ideology, the actions of the responsible king are always in harmony with Maat, the world order willed by God. See David P Silverman: Divinity and Deity in Ancient Egypt. In: Byron E. Shafer (Ed.): Religion in Ancient Egypt. Cornell University Press, Ithaca / London 1991, ISBN 0-8014-9786-8 , p. 63.
11. ^ Translation in JH Breasted: Ancient Records of Egypt: Historical Documents from the Earliest Times to the Persian Conquest. Volume 4, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1906-07, reissued New York 1962, ISBN 0-8462-0134-8 , pp. 110-206 ( online ).
12. ↑ An Arura ( sṯ3.t ) is 2,735 square meters.
13. ^ G. Lefebvre: Histoire des grands prêtres d'Amon de Karnak jusqu'à la XXIe dynastie. Geuthner, Paris 1929, p. 167.
14. ^ Donald B. Redford: Egypt, Canaan and Israel in Ancient Times. Princeton University Press, Princeton 1992, ISBN 0-691-00086-7 , p. 288.
15. ↑ The Juristic Papyrus Turin with Papyrus Lee , Papyrus Rollin , Papyrus Varzy , and the so-called Rifaud copies ( Papyrus Rifaud and Papyrus Rifaud II ) see: Théodule Devéria: Le papyrus judiciaire de Turin et les papyrus Lee et Rollin; étude égyptologique. Imprimerie impériale, Paris 1868 ( full text online ); and Adriaan de Buck: The Judicial Papyrus of Turin (= Journal of Egyptian Archeology. Vol. 23). Egyptian Exploration Society, London 1937 ( full text as PDF file ).
16. ^ Pierre Grandet: Ramsès III. Histoire d'un règne (= Bibliothèque de l'Égypte ancienne. ). Pygmalion, Paris 1993, ISBN 978-2-85704-408-6 , p. 335.
17. ↑ P. Grandet: Ramsès III. Histoire d'un règne. Paris 1993, p. 336, considering the undamaged mummy of the king
18. ↑ ^{a b} Egyptian Pharaoh's throat was cut. In: Waldeckische Landeszeitung - Frankenberger Zeitung. December 17, 2012, accessed on August 21, 2013 (German). 
19. ^ JH Breasted: Ancient Records of Egypt. ... Volume 4, reissued New York 1962, p. 210.
20. ↑ According to the Turin Legal Papyrus it was a ˁt-ḥnqt = "beer room", ie a drinking bout: James H. Breasted : Ancient Records of Egypt ... Volume 4, reissued New York 1962, p. 219.
21. ↑ JH Breasted: Ancient Records of Egypt ... Volume 4, reissued New York 1962, p. 218.
22. ^ AJ Peden: The Reign of Ramesses IV. Aris & Phillips, Warminster GB 1994, ISBN 978-0-85668-622-1 , p. 14.
23. ↑ ^{a b c} Rolf Krauss: Sothis and moon dates. Studies on the astronomical and technical chronology of ancient Egypt (= Hildesheimer Egyptological contributions. No. 20). Gerstenberg, Hildesheim 1985, p. 143.
24. ↑ See online citation ( Memento of the original dated September 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . 
25. ^ R. Krauss: Sothis and moon dates. Studies on the astronomical and technical chronology of ancient Egypt. Hildesheim 1985, p. 138.
26. ↑ King Ramesses III's throat was slit, analysis reveals BBC News , December 18, 2012, accessed December 18, 2012
27. ↑ Pharaoh Ramses III. his throat was cut in Der Spiegel online, December 18, 2012
28. ↑ Zahi Hawass, Somaia Ismail, Ashraf Selim, Sahar N Saleem, et al .: Revisiting the harem conspiracy and death of Ramesses III: anthropological, forensic, radiological, and genetic study. In: British Medical Journal . (BMJ) December 17, 2012, No. 345, e8268, doi : 10.1136 / bmj.e8268 .
29. ↑ In the Julian calendar system, June 20th corresponds to July 1st.
30. ↑ Ostraca Deir el-Medineh. (O. DeM) No. 40, vs 5-6 In: J. Černý: Catalog des ostraca hiératiques non-littéraires de Deir el-Médineh (Cairo). Vol. 1; Nos. 1-113. In: Documents de fouilles de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale du Caire. (DFIFAO) No. 3, 1935.
31. ↑ The sarcophagus on the museum's online database ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 

predecessor	Office	successor
Set night	Pharaoh of Egypt 20th Dynasty	Ramses IV