Seti II

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Persondata
NAME	Seti II
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	{{{Alt}}}
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Pharaoh of Egypt
DATE OF BIRTH	{{{Birth}}}
PLACE OF BIRTH	Ancient Egypt
DATE OF DEATH	{{{Death}}}
PLACE OF DEATH	Ancient Egypt

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

Seti II, was the sixth ruler of the Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt and reigned from 1200 BC - 1194 BC. His throne name, Userkheperure Setepenre, meant "Powerful are the Manifestations of Re, Chosen by Re.'^[3] He sat on the throne during a period known for dynastic intrigue and short reigns, and his rule was no different. Seti had to deal with many plots, most significantly the preceding reign of the usurper, Amenmesse, who seized power when Seti II was possibly 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 and 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 successor. According to a graffito written in the first corridor of Twosret's KV14 tomb, Seti II was buried in his KV15 tomb on "Year 1, IV Peret day 11" of Siptah.^[4]

Seti II's earliest prenomen in his First Year was 'Userkheperure Setepenre'^[5] 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 may have 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 royal name to 'Userkheperure Meryamun', which was the most common form of his prenomen.

Two important papyri date from the reign of Seti II. The first of these is the Tale of Two Brothers, a fabulous story of troubles within a family on the death of their father, which may have been intended in part as political satire on the situation of the two half brothers. The second is the records of the trial of Paneb. Neferhotep, one of the two chief workmen of the Deir el Medina necropolis, had been replaced by Paneb, against whom many crimes were alleged by Neferhotep's brother Amennakhte in a violently worded indictment preserved in papyrus in the British Museum. If Amennakhte can be trusted, Paneb had stolen stone for the embellishment of his own tomb from that of Seti II still in course of completion, besides purloining or damaging other property belonging to that monarch. Also he had tried to kill Neferhotep in spite of having been educated by him, and after the chief workman had been killed by 'the enemy' had bribed the vizier Pra'emhab in order to usurp his place. Whatever the truth of these accusations, it is clear that Thebes was going through very troubled times. There are references elsewhere to a 'war' that had occurred during these years, but it is obscure to what this word alludes, perhaps to no more than internal disturbances and discontent. Neferhotep had complained of the attacks upon himself to the vizier Amenmose, presumably a predecessor of Pra'emhab, whereupon Amenmose had punished Paneb. This trouble-maker had then brought a complaint before 'Mose', who had deposed the vizier from his office. Evidently this 'Mose' must have been a person of the highest importance but it is unknown if he usurped the throne as king Amenmesse.

[edit] Wives

Seti II had three Queens in all: Takhat II, Twosret and Tiaa, his third wife. Twosret is known to have survived him since she later served as Siptah's queen regent.

[edit] References

1. ^ Peter Clayton, Chronicle of the Pharaohs, Thames & Hudson Ltd, 1994. p.158
2. ^ Seti II. Retrieved on March 17, 2007.
3. ^ Clayton, op. cit., p.158
4. ^ Aidan Dodson, The Decorative Phases of the Tomb of Sethos II and their Historical Implications, JEA 85 (1999), pp.131-42.
5. ^ Frank Joseph Yurco, Was Amenmesse the Viceroy of Kush, Messuwy? JARCE 39 (1997), pp.49-56