Merenptah was an
ancient Egyptian prince during the
19th Dynasty, likely to have been a son of Pharaoh
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 ...
.
He is known from two statues of
Senusret I
Senusret I (Middle Egyptian: z-n-wsrt; /suʀ nij ˈwas.ɾiʔ/) also anglicized as Sesostris I and Senwosret I, was the second pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from 1971 BC to 1926 BC (1920 BC to 1875 BC), and was one of the mo ...
usurped by Pharaoh Merenptah − found in
Tanis
Tanis ( grc, Τάνις or Τανέως ) or San al-Hagar ( ar, صان الحجر, Ṣān al-Ḥaǧar; egy, ḏꜥn.t ; ; cop, ϫⲁⲛⲓ or or ) is the Greek name for ancient Egyptian ''ḏꜥn.t'', an important archaeological site in the ...
and
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
, respectively − and from three statue fragments from
Bubastis
Bubastis ( Bohairic Coptic: ''Poubasti''; Greek: ''Boubastis'' or ''Boubastos''), also known in Arabic as Tell-Basta or in Egyptian as Per-Bast, was an ancient Egyptian city. Bubastis is often identified with the biblical ''Pi-Beseth'' ( h ...
. Since he shares a name with Pharaoh Merenptah, also, his name is similar to that of the crown prince and eventual successor,
Seti Merenptah, and he wears an ''
uraeus
The Uraeus (), or Ouraeus (Ancient Greek: , ; Egyptian: ', "rearing cobra"), ''(plural: Uraei)'' is the stylized, upright form of an Egyptian cobra, used as a symbol of sovereignty, royalty, deity and divine authority in ancient Egypt.
Sym ...
'' usually worn by pharaohs only, it is a possibility that he is in fact the same as either of these two, but Prince Merenptah's titles slightly differ from those of the pharaoh and the crown prince, also, the Senusret statues were usurped by Merenptah when he was already a pharaoh. Also, Seti Merenptah used both his names as a prince and as a pharaoh. It is possible that Merenptah's use of a uraeus stems from the power struggle between Pharaoh Merenptah's heirs following his death.
[Dodson & Hilton, p.177]
Sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merenptah (Prince)
Ancient Egyptian princes
Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt