Ramesses I

Ramesses I
Stone head carving of Paramessu (Ramesses I), originally part of a statue depicting him as a scribe. On display at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Stone head carving of Paramessu (Ramesses I), originally part of a statue depicting him as a scribe. On display at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Pharaoh of Egypt
Reign 1292–1290 BC or 1295–1294 BC,  19th Dynasty
Predecessor Horemheb
Successor Seti I
Consort(s) Queen Sitre
Children Seti I
Died 1290 BC
Burial KV16

Menpehtyre Ramesses I (traditional English: Ramesses or Ramses) was the founding Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's 19th dynasty. The dates for his short reign are not completely known but the time-line of late 1292-1290 BC is frequently cited[3] as well as 1295-1294 BC[4]. While Ramesses I was the founder of the 19th Dynasty, in reality his brief reign marked the transition between the reign of Horemheb who had stabilised Egypt and the rule of the powerful Pharaohs of this dynasty, in particular Seti I and Ramesses II, who would bring Egypt up to new heights of imperial power.

Contents

Death

Reliefs from the Abydos chapel of Ramesses I. The chapel was specifically built and dedicated by Seti I in memory of his late father

Ramesses enjoyed a very brief reign, as evidenced by the general paucity of contemporary monuments mentioning him: the king had little time to build any major buildings in his reign and was hurriedly buried in a small and hastily finished tomb.[5] The Egyptian priest Manetho assigns him a reign of 16 months but Ramesses certainly ruled Egypt for a minimum of 17 months based on his highest known date which is a Year 2 II Peret day 20 (Louvre C57) stela which ordered the provision of new endowments of food and priests for the Temple of Ptah within the Egyptian fortress of Buhen.[6] Jürgen von Beckerath observes that Ramesses I died just 5 months later--in June 1290 BC--since his son Seti I succeeded to power on III Shemu day 24.[7] Ramesses I's only known action was to order the provision of endowments for the aforementioned Nubian temple at Buhen and "the construction of a chapel and a temple (which was to be finished by his son) at Abydos."[8] The aged Ramesses was buried in the Valley of the Kings. His tomb, discovered by Giovanni Belzoni in 1817 and designated KV16, is small in size and gives the impression of having been completed with haste. Joyce Tyldesley states that Ramesses I's tomb consisted of a single corridor and one unfinished room whose

“ walls, after a hurried coat of plaster, were painted to show the king with his gods, with Osiris allowed a prominent position. The red granite sarcophagus too was painted rather than carved with inscriptions which, due to their hasty preparation, included a number of unfortunate errors."[9] ”

Seti I, his son, and successor, later built dedicated a small chapel (or temple) with fine reliefs in memory of deceased father Ramesses I at Abydos. In 1911, John Pierpont Morgan donated several exquisite reliefs from this chapel to the Metropolitan Museum in New York.[10]

Rediscovery

According to current theory, his mummy was stolen by the Abu-Rassul family of grave robbers and brought to North America around 1860 by Dr. James Douglas. It was then placed in the Niagara Museum and Daredevil Hall of Fame in Ontario, Canada. Ramesses I remained there, his identity unknown, next to other curiosities and so-called freaks of nature for more than 130 years. When the owner of the museum decided to sell his property, Canadian businessman William Jamieson purchased the contents of the museum. In 1999, Jamieson sold the Egyptian artifacts in the collection, including the various mummies, to the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia for US $2 million. His identity cannot be conclusively determined, but is persuasively deduced from CT scans, X-rays, skull measurements and radio-carbon dating tests by researchers at the University, as well as aesthetic interpretations of family resemblance. His mummy was returned to Egypt on October 24, 2003 with full official honors. His mummy is on display at the Luxor Museum.[11][12][13]

References

  1. ↑ Ibid., p.140
  2. ↑ Peter Clayton, Chronicle of the Pharaohs, Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1994. p.140
  3. ↑ Jürgen von Beckerath, Chronologie des Äegyptischen Pharaonischen (Mainz: Phillip von Zabern, 1997), p.190
  4. ↑ Rice, Michael (1999). Who's Who in Ancient Egypt. Routledge. 
  5. ↑ Joyce Tyldesley, Ramesses: Egypt's Greatest Pharaoh (New York: Penguin Books, 2000), pp.37-38
  6. ↑ Peter J. Brand, The Monuments of Seti I: Epigraphic, Historical and Art Historical Analysis (Leiden: Brill, 2000), pp.289, 300 and 311.
  7. ↑ von Beckerath, 'Chronologie, p.190
  8. ↑ Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford: Blackwell Books, 1992), p. 245
  9. ↑ Tyldesley, Ramesses, p.38
  10. ↑ The Temple of Ramesses I at Abydos by H.E. Winlock
  11. ↑ http://www.mummytombs.com/mummylocator/featured/ramesesI.news.htm Featured Mummy: Rameses I, last visited March 20, 2008
  12. ↑ "Egypt's 'Ramses' mummy returned", BBC (26 October, 2003). Retrieved on 2008-04-13. "An ancient Egyptian mummy thought to be that of Pharaoh Ramses I has returned home after more than 140 years in North American museums." 
  13. ↑ "U.S. Museum to Return Ramses I Mummy to Egypt.", National Geographic (April 30, 2003). Retrieved on 2008-04-13. "A 3,000-year-old mummy that many scholars believe is ancient Egypt's King Ramses I is the star attraction of an exhibit at the Michael C. Carlos Museum in Atlanta that will run from April 26 to September 14." 

External links

Notable ancient Egyptian rulers
Early Dynastic rulers
Narmer · Hor-Aha · Djer · Khasekhemwy
 Ankh.svg
Old Kingdom rulers
Djoser · Sneferu · Khufu · Khafra · Menkaura · Sahure · Pepi II
Middle Kingdom rulers
Mentuhotep II · Amenemhat I · Senusret I · Senusret III · Amenemhat III · Sobekneferu
Second Intermediate rulers
Khendjer · Neferhotep I · Sobekhotep IV · Ay · Nebiriau I · Apophis · Sobekemsaf II · Intef VII · Seqenenre · Kamose
New Kingdom rulers
Third Intermediate rulers
Psusennes I · Siamun · Shoshenq I · Osorkon II · Shoshenq III · Osorkon III · Piye · Tefnakht · Shabaka · Taharqa
Other rulers
Psamtik I · Necho II · Ahmose II · Nepherites I · Nectanebo I · Ptolemy I · Ptolemy II · Ptolemy XIII · Cleopatra VII
Consorts
Tetisheri · Ahhotep I · Ahmose-Nefertari · Ahmose · Tiye · Nefertiti · Ankhesenamen · Nefertari · Mark Antony
Court officials
Imhotep · Weni · Sobeknakht II · Ahmose-Ebana · Ineni · Senenmut · Rekhmire · Yuya · Maya · Yuny · Bay · Manetho · Pothinus