Seti II

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Preceded by:
Amenmesse
Pharaoh of Egypt
19th Dynasty
Succeeded by:
Siptah
Seti II
Reign 1200 BC - 1194 BC
Praenomen
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Userkheperure Setepenre
Nomen
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Sety Merenptah
Horus name Kanakht Werpehti
Nebty name Nekhtkhepesh-der-pedjut[1]
Golden Horus Aaneruemtawnebu
Consort(s) Twosret
Died 1194 BC
Burial KV15[2]

Userkheperure Setepenre Meryptah Seti II (reigned 1200 BC - 1194 BC) was the sixth ruler of the Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt. He ruled in a period known for dynastic intrigue and short reigns, and his rule was no different. He had to deal with many plots, most significantly the preceding reign of the usurper, Amenmesse, who seized the throne when Seti II was away from the royal palace after the death of his father Merneptah.

Seti II promoted Chancellor Bay, to become his most important state official and built 3 tombs – KV13, KV14, and KV15 – for himself, his Senior Queen Twosret and Bay in the Valley of the Kings. This was an unprecedented act on his part for Bay, who was of Syrian descent), was not connected by marriage or blood ties to the royal family. Due to the relative brevity of his reign, Seti's tomb was unfinished at the time of his death. Twosret later rose to power herself after the death of Siptah, Seti II's son and successor. According to a graffito written in the first corridor of Twosret's KV14 tomb, Seti II was buried in his tomb, KV15, on "Year 1, IV Peret day 11" of Siptah.[3]

Seti II's earliest prenomen in his First Year was 'Userkheperure Setepenre'[4] which is written above an inscription of Messuwy, a Viceroy of Nubia under Merneptah, on a rock outcropping at Bigeh Island. However, Messuwy's burial in Tomb S90 in Nubia has been discovered to contain only funerary objects naming Merneptah which suggests that 1)Messuwy died during Merneptah's reign and 2)Seti II merely associated himself with an official who had actively served his father as Viceroy of Kush. Seti II soon changed his prenomen to 'Userkheperure Meryamum', which was the most common form of his prenomen.

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1] King Sety II
  2. ^ Seti II and his Tomb (KV15) in the Valley of the Kings. Tour Egypt. Retrieved on March 2, 2006.
  3. ^ Aidan Dodson, The Decorative Phases of the Tomb of Sethos II and their Historical Implications, JEA 85 (1999), pp.131-42.
  4. ^ Frank Joseph Yurco, Was Amenmesse the Viceroy of Kush, Messuwy? JARCE 39 (1997), pp.49-56