Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt

Egypt
1189 BC–1077 BC
Capital		Pi-Ramesses
Languages		Egyptian language
Religion		Ancient Egyptian Religion
Government		Absolute monarchy
Historical era		Iron Age
•	Established	1189 BC
•	Disestablished	1077 BC
Preceded by Succeeded by Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt

The Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XX, alternatively 20th Dynasty or Dynasty 20) is classified as the third and last Dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1189 BC to 1077 BC. The 20th Dynasty and the 19th Dynasty furthermore together constitute an era known as the Ramesside period.

History

Background

Upon the death of last pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty, Queen Twosret, Egypt descended into a period of civil war, as attested by the Elephantine stela built by Setnakhte. The circumstances of Twosret's demise are uncertain, as she may have died peacefully during her reign or have been overthrown by Setnakhte, who was likely already middle aged at the time.^[1]

20th Dynasty

A consistent theme of this Dynasty was the loss of pharaonic power to the High Priests of Amun. Horemheb, a pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty, had restored the traditional Ancient Egyptian religion and the priesthood of Amun after their abandonment by Akhenaten. With the High Priests now acting as intermediaries between the Gods and the people rather than the Pharaoh, the position no longer commanded the same kind of power as in the past.^[2][3]

Setnakhte

Setnakhte stabilized the situation in Egypt, and may have driven off an attempted invasion by the Sea Peoples. He ruled for about 4 years before being succeeded by his son Ramesses III.

Ramesses III

In Year 5 of his reign, Ramesses defeated a Libyan invasion of Egypt by the Libu, Meshwesh and Seped people through Marmarica, who had previously unsuccessfully invaded during the reign of Merneptah.^[4]

Ramesses III is most famous for decisively defeating a confederacy of the Sea Peoples, including the Denyen, Tjekker, Peleset, Shardana and Weshesh in the Battle of the Delta and the Battle of Djahy during Year 8 of his reign. Within the Papyrus Harris I, which attests these events in detail, Ramesses is said to have settled the defeated Sea Peoples in "strongholds", most likely located in Canaan, as his subjects^[2][5]

In Year 11 of Ramesses' reign, another coalition of Libyan invaders was defeated in Egypt.

Between regnal Year 12 and Year 29, a systematic program of reorganizing the varied cults of the Ancient Egyptian religion was undertaken, by creating new cults and funding them, and restoring temples.

In Year 29 of Ramesses' reign, the first recorded labor strike in human history took place, after food rations for the favored and elite royal tomb-builders and artisans in the village of Set Maat (now known as Deir el-Medina), could not be provisioned.^[6]

The king is also known for a harem conspiracy in which Queen Tiye, one of his lesser wives, was implicated in an assassination attempt against the king to put her son Pentawer on the throne. The coup was not successful, as while the king may have died from the attempt on his life, his legitimate heir and son Ramesses IV succeeded him to the throne, arresting and putting approximately 30 conspirators to death.^[7][8]

Ramesses IV

At the start of his reign Ramesses IV started an enormous building program on the scale of Ramesses the Great's own projects. He doubled the number of work gangs at Set Maat to a total of 120 men and dispatched numerous expeditions to the stone quarries of Wadi Hammamat and the turquoise mines of the Sinai. One of the largest expeditions included 8,368 men, of which some 2,000 were soldiers.^[9] Ramesses expanded his father's Temple of Khonsu at Kharnak and possibly began his own mortuary temple at a site near the Temple of Hatshepsut. Another smaller temple is associated with Ramesses north of Medinet Habu.

Ramesses IV saw issues with the provision of food rations to his workmen, similar to the situation under his father. Ramessesnakht, the High Priest of Amun at the time, began to accompany state officials as they went to pay the workmen their rations, suggesting that, at least in part, it was the Temple of Amun and not the Egyptian state that was responsible for their wages.^[10]

He also produced the Papyrus Harris I, the longest known papyrus from Ancient Egypt, measuring in at 41 meters long with 1,500 lines of text to celebrate the achievements of his father.

Ramesses V

Ramesses V reigned for no more than 4 years, dying of smallpox in 1143 BC. The only monument attested to him is a stela near Gebel el-Silsila.^[11] The Turin Papyrus Cat. 2044 attests that during his reign the workmen of Set Maat were forced to periodically stop working on Ramesses' KV9 tomb out of "fear of the enemy", suggesting increasing instability in Egypt and an inability to defend the country from what are presumed to be Libyan raiding parties.^[12]

The Wilbour Papyrus is thought to date from Ramesses V's reign. The document reveals that most of the land in Egypt by that point was controlled by the Temple of Amun, and that the Temple had complete control over Egypt's finances.^[13]

Ramesses VI

Ramesses VI is best known for his tomb, which when built inadvertently buried the tomb of pharaoh Tutankhamun underneath, keeping it safe from grave robbing until its discovery by Howard Carter in 1922.

Ramesses VII

Ramesses VII's only monument is his tomb, KV1.^[14]

Ramesses VIII

Almost nothing is known about Ramesses VIII's reign, which lasted for a single year. He is only attested at Medinet Habu and through a few plaques. The only monument from his reign is his modest tomb, which was used for Mentuherkhepeshef, son of Ramesses IX, rather than Ramesses VIII himself.^[15]

Ramesses IX

During Year 16 and Year 17 of Ramesses IX's reign famous tomb robbery trials took place, as attested by the Abbott Papyrus. A careful examination by a vizierial commission was undertaken of ten royal tombs, four tombs of the Chantresses of the Estate of the Divine Adoratrix, and finally the tombs of the citizens of Thebes. Many of these were found to have been broken into, like the tomb of Pharaoh Sobekemsaf II, whose mummy had been stolen.^[16][17]

Ramesses IX's cartouche has been found at Gezer in Canaan, suggesting that Egypt at this time still had some degree of influence in the region.^[18]

Most of the building projects during Ramesses IX's reign were at Heliopolis.^[19]

Ramesses X

Ramessex X's reign is poorly documented. The Necropolis Journal of Set Maat records the general idleness of the workmen at this time, due, at least in part, to the danger of Libyan raiders.^[20]

Ramesses XI

Ramesses XI was the last pharaoh of the 20th Dynasty. During his reign the position grew so weak that in the south the High Priests of Amun at Thebes became the de facto rulers of Upper Egypt, while Smendes controlled Lower Egypt even before Ramesses XI's death. Smendes would eventually found the Twenty-First dynasty at Tanis.^[21]

Decline

As happened under the earlier Nineteenth Dynasty, this dynasty struggled under the effects of the bickering between the heirs of Ramesses III. For instance, three different sons of Ramesses III are known to have assumed power as Ramesses IV, Ramesses VI and Ramesses VIII respectively. However, at this time Egypt was also increasingly beset by a series of droughts, below-normal flooding levels of the Nile, famine, civil unrest and official corruption – all of which would limit the managerial abilities of any king.

Pharaohs of the 20th Dynasty

The Pharaohs of the 20th dynasty ruled for approximately 120 years: from c. 1187 to 1064 BC. The dates and names in the table are mostly taken from "Chronological Table for the Dynastic Period" in Erik Hornung, Rolf Krauss & David Warburton (editors), Ancient Egyptian Chronology (Handbook of Oriental Studies), Brill, 2006. Many of the pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings in Thebes (designated KV). More information can be found on the Theban Mapping Project website.^[22]

Pharaoh	Image	Throne Name / Prenomen	Reign	Burial	Consort(s)	Comments
Setnakhte		Userkhaure-setepenre	1189 – 1186 BC	KV14	Tiy-merenese	May have usurped the throne from his predecessor, Twosret.
Ramesses III		Usermaatre-Meryamun	1186 – 1155 BC	KV11	Iset Ta-Hemdjert Tiye
Ramesses IV		Usermaatre Setepenamun, later Heqamaatre Setepenamun	1155 – 1149 BC	KV2	Duatentopet
Ramesses V / Amenhirkhepeshef I		Usermaatre Sekheperenre	1149 – 1145 BC	KV9	Henutwati Tawerettenru
Ramesses VI / Amenhirkhepeshef II		Nebmaatre Meryamun	1145 – 1137 BC	KV9	Nubkhesbed
Ramesses VII / Itamun		Usermaatre Setepenre Meryamun	1136 – 1129 BC	KV1
Ramesses VIII / Sethhirkhepeshef		Usermaatre-Akhenamun	1130 – 1129 BC
Ramesses IX / Khaemwaset I		Neferkare Setepenre	1129 – 1111 BC	KV6	Baketwernel
Ramesses X / Amenhirkhepeshef III		Khepermaatre Setepenre	1111 – 1107 BC	KV18	Tyti
Ramesses XI / Khaemwaset II		Menmaatre Setpenptah	1107 – 1077 BC	KV4	Tentamun

Timeline of the 20th Dynasty

Pharaonic Family tree

The Twentieth dynasty of Egypt was the last of the New Kingdom of Egypt. The familial relationships are unclear, especially towards the end of the dynasty.

Gallery of images

• 
  Ramesses III was the son of Sethnakht. During his reign, he fought off the invasions of the Sea Peoples in Egypt and tolerated their settlement in Canaan. A conspiracy was hatched to kill him, but it failed. He was later murdered. His mummy, long an inspiration for the scary Hollywood films, showed his throat was slit.
• 
  Ramesses IV was the fifth son of Ramesses III. He assumed the throne after his four older brothers had died.
• 
  Ramesses V was the son of Ramesss IV and Queen Duatentopet. During his reign Libyan raiders attacked the country and attempted to conquer Thebes, forcing the workers of Deir el-Medina to halt work in the Valley of the Kings. He died of smallpox.
• 
  Ramesses VI was an uncle of Ramesses V. He usurped his predecessor's throne and later his tomb, KV9.
• 
  Ramesses VII was the son of Ramesses VI During his reign, prices of grain soared to the highest levels. His mummy has never been found but cups bearing his name were found in the royal cache at Deir el-Bahri. He was buried in KV1. Above is a scene from KV1, open since antiquity.
• 
  Ramesses VIII, born Sethherkhepeshef, was a brother of Ramesses VI and a surviving son of Ramesses III. He may have ruled for a year or two. His tomb has never been identified.
• 
  Ramesses IX was the grandson of Ramesses III, nephew of Ramesses IV and VI, and a son of Mentuherkhepeshef, who never became a pharaoh.
• 
  Ramesses X, born Amunherkhepeshef, took the throne after Ramesses IX. He is a poorly documented king, with few monuments to his name. His tomb, KV18, was left unfinished.
• 
  Ramesses XI was the last pharaoh of the twentieth dynasty. He began KV4 but later abandoned the tomb. As Egypt weakened, Ramesses XI was forced to share power in a triumvirate with Herihor, the high priest of Amun and Smendes, governor of Lower Egypt. Ramesses XI was buried in Lower Egypt by Smendes, who later took the throne himself.

See also

Pharaoh is a historical novel by Bolesław Prus, set in Egypt at the end of the Twentieth Dynasty, which adds two fictional rulers: Ramesses XII and Ramesses XIII. It has been adapted into a film of the same title.

References