The

memorial temple Mortuary temples (or funerary temples) were temples that were erected adjacent to, or in the vicinity of, royal tombs in Ancient Egypt. The temples were designed to commemorate the reign of the Pharaoh under whom they were constructed, as well as f ...

Ramesses III Usermaatre Meryamun Ramesses III (also written Ramses and Rameses) was the second Pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty in Ancient Egypt. He is thought to have reigned from 26 March 1186 to 15 April 1155 BC and is considered to be the last great monar ...

at Medinet Habu contains a minor list of pharaohs of the

New Kingdom of Egypt The New Kingdom, also referred to as the Egyptian Empire, is the period in ancient Egyptian history between the sixteenth century BC and the eleventh century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth dynasties of Egypt. Radioca ...

. The inscriptions closely resemble the Ramesseum king list, which is a similar scene of

Ramesses II Ramesses II ( egy, wikt:rꜥ-ms-sw, rꜥ-ms-sw ''Rīʿa-məsī-sū'', , meaning "Ra is the one who bore him"; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Along with Thutmose III he is oft ...

, which was used as a template for the scenes here. The scene shows Ramesses III participating in the ceremonies of the Festival of Min where statues of ancestral kings are carried in an elaborate procession to make offerings to

Min Min or MIN may refer to: Places * Fujian, also called Mǐn, a province of China ** Min Kingdom (909–945), a state in Fujian * Min County, a county of Dingxi, Gansu province, China * Min River (Fujian) * Min River (Sichuan) * Mineola (Am ...

. It contains 16 cartouches with the names of nine pharaohs divided into two parts. The sparse outline of the scene was published by

Vivant Denon Dominique Vivant, Baron Denon (4 January 1747 – 27 April 1825) was a French artist, writer, diplomat, author, and archaeologist. Denon was a diplomat for France under Louis XV and Louis XVI. He was appointed as the first Director of the Louvre ...

in 1802, who was part of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

expedition to Egypt The French campaign in Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in the Ottoman territories of Egypt and Syria, proclaimed to defend French trade interests, to establish scientific enterprise in the region. It was the ...

in 1798 to 1801, which published a slightly more detailed scene in 1809. Thirty years later, the complete scene including the cartouches of the kings was published by

John Gardner Wilkinson Sir John Gardner Wilkinson (5 October 1797 – 29 October 1875) was an English traveller, writer and pioneer Egyptologist of the 19th century. He is often referred to as "the Father of British Egyptology". Childhood and education Wilkinson ...

in 1837, followed by Champollion and Lepsius. All the 19th-century editions contain omissions and errors, but in 1940 the Epigraphic Survey published the definitive (and complete) rendering of the scenes.The Epigraphic Survey (1940). ''Medinet Habu IV'', plates 203-207, OIP 51, Chicago MHKLfull

The kings mentioned in the list

The scene is divided in two parts, on the left side, 7 statues of ancestors are being carried in a procession. The right side is led by nine kings. {, class="wikitable" width="90%" ! colspan="3" style="text-align: center;" , Left procession ! colspan="3" style="text-align: center;" , Right procession , - , style="text-align: center;font-weight:bold" , # , style="text-align: center;font-weight:bold" , ''Pharaoh'' , style="text-align: center;font-weight:bold" , ''Inscription (throne name)'' , style="text-align: center;font-weight:bold" , # , style="text-align: center;font-weight:bold" , ''Pharaoh'' , style="text-align: center;font-weight:bold" , ''Inscription (throne name)'' , - , 1 ,

, Usermaatre-meryamun , 8 , Ramesses III , Usermaatre-meryamun , - , 2 ,

Setnakhte Userkhaure-setepenre Setnakhte (also called Setnakht or Sethnakht) was the first pharaoh ( 1189 BC– 1186 BC) of the Twentieth Dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt and the father of Ramesses III. Accession Setnakhte was not the so ...

, Userkhaure-meryamun , 9 , Setnakhte , Userkhaure-meryamun , - , 3 ,

, Usermaatre-setepenre , 10 , Seti II , Userkheperure-setepenre , - , 4 ,

Merenptah Merneptah or Merenptah (reigned July or August 1213 BC – May 2, 1203 BC) was the fourth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He ruled Egypt for almost ten years, from late July or early August 1213 BC until his death on May 2, 1 ...

, Baenre-meryamun , 11 , Merenptah , Baenre-meryamun , - , 5 , Ramesses III , Usermaatre-meryamun , 12 , Ramesses II , Usermaatre-setepenre , - , 6 , Setnakhte , Userkhaure-meryamun , 13 ,

Seti I Menmaatre Seti I (or Sethos I in Greek) was the second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the New Kingdom period, ruling c.1294 or 1290 BC to 1279 BC. He was the son of Ramesses I and Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II. The ...

, Menmaatre , - , 7 ,

Seti II Seti II (or Sethos II) was the fifth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt and reigned from 1203 BC to 1197 BC. His throne name, Userkheperure Setepenre, means "Powerful are the manifestations of Re, the chosen one of Re." H ...

, Userkheperure-setepenre , 14 ,

Ramesses I Menpehtyre Ramesses I (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 as well as 1295–1294 BC. While Ra ...

, Menpehtyre , - , rowspan="2" colspan="3" , , 15 ,

Horemheb Horemheb, also spelled Horemhab or Haremhab ( egy, ḥr-m-ḥb, meaning "Horus is in Jubilation") was the last pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, 18th Dynasty of Egypt (1550–1295 BC). He ruled for at least 14 years between 131 ...

, Djeserkheperure-setepenre , - , 16 ,

Amenhotep III Amenhotep III ( egy, jmn-ḥtp(.w), ''Amānəḥūtpū'' , "Amun is Satisfied"; Hellenized as Amenophis III), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. According to different ...

, Nebmaatre It remains ''

in situ ''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...

'' on the eastern second pylon in the second court, in the upper register on the eastern wall.

References

Bibliography

* Dominique Vivant Denon: ''Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute Égypte, pendant les campagnes du général Bonaparte'', plate 134 (Paris: 1802) * ''Description de l'Égypte, ou, Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l'expédition de l'armée française'', Vol. II, Planches: Antiquités. Plate 11. (Paris: Imprimerie impériale, 1809) * John Gardner Wilkinson: ''Manners and customs of the ancient Egyptians, including their private life, government, laws, art, manufactures, religions, and early history'', plate 76, (London: 1837) * Jean François Champollion: ''Monuments de l'Égypte et de la Nubie'', Vol. III, plates 213-214 (Paris: 1845) * Carl Richard Lepsius: ''Denkmaeler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien'', III, plates 212-213, (Berlin: 1849) * The Epigraphic Survey: ''Medinet Habu: Volume IV, Festival Scenes of Ramses III'', Oriental Institute Press 51, Plates 203-207 (Chicago: 1940) * Kenneth A. Kitchen: ''Ramesside Inscriptions'', Vol V, pp. 205:12-13; 209:11-12 (Oxford: 1983) 12th-century BC works 1802 archaeological discoveries Ancient Egyptian King lists