The Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XIX), also known as the Ramessid dynasty, is classified as the second Dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1292 BC to 1189 BC. The 19th Dynasty and the 20th Dynasty furthermore together constitute an era known as the ''Ramesside period''. This Dynasty was founded by

Vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...

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 R ...

, whom

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...

Horemheb Horemheb, also spelled Horemhab or Haremhab ( egy, ḥr-m-ḥb, meaning " Horus is in Jubilation") was the last pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt (1550–1295 BC). He ruled for at least 14 years between 1319 BC and 1292 BC. ...

chose as his successor to the throne.

History

Background

The warrior kings of the early 18th Dynasty had encountered only little resistance from neighbouring kingdoms, allowing them to expand their realm of influence easily, but the international situation had changed radically towards the end of the dynasty. The

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-centra ...

had gradually extended their influence into Syria and

Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

to become a major power in international politics, a power that both

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 ...

and his son

Ramesses II Ramesses II ( egy, 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 often regarded as ...

would confront in the future.

19th Dynasty

Seti and Ramesses II

The New Kingdom of Egypt reached the zenith of its power under Seti I and Ramesses II ("The Great"), who campaigned vigorously against the Libyans and the Hittites. The city of Kadesh was first captured by Seti I, who decided to concede it to Muwatalli of Hatti in an informal peace treaty between Egypt and Hatti. Ramesses II later attempted unsuccessfully to alter this situation in his fifth regnal year by launching an attack on Kadesh in his Second Syrian campaign in

1274 BC The 1270s BC is a decade which lasted from 1279 BC to 1270 BC. {{Decadebox BC, 127 Events and trends * 1279 BC—Pharaoh Seti I dies after an 11-year reign. *c. 1279 BC— Troy VI, speculated to be the city mentioned in Homer's Iliad, is presum ...

; he was caught in history's first recorded military ambush, but thanks to the arrival of the Ne'arin (a force allied with Egypt), Ramesses was able to rally his troops and turn the tide of battle against the Hittites. Ramesses II later profited from the Hittites' internal difficulties, during his eighth and ninth regnal years, when he campaigned against their Syrian possessions, capturing Kadesh and portions of Southern Syria, and advancing as far north as

Tunip Tunip was a city-state in western Syria in 1350– 1335 BC, the period of the Amarna letters. The name "Syria" did not yet exist, though this was already the time of ancient Assyria. The regions were: Amurru, Nuhašše, the Amqu (the Beqaa), Ni ...

, where no Egyptian soldier had been seen for 120 years. He ultimately accepted that a campaign against the Hittites was an unsupportable drain on Egypt's treasury and military. In his 21st regnal year, Ramesses signed the earliest recorded peace treaty with

Urhi-Teshub Mursili III, also known as Urhi-Teshub, was a king of the Hittites who assumed the throne of the Hittite empire (New Kingdom) at Tarhuntassa upon his father's death. He was a cousin of Tudhaliya IV and Queen Maathorneferure. He ruled ca. 1282– ...

's successor,

Hattusili III Ḫattušili (''Ḫattušiliš'' in the inflected nominative case) was the regnal name of three Hittite kings: * Ḫattušili I (Labarna II) * Ḫattušili II * Ḫattušili III It was also the name of two Neo-Hittite kings: * Ḫattušili I (Laba ...

, and with that act Egypt-Hittite relations improved significantly. Ramesses II even married two Hittite princesses, the first after his second Sed Festival.

Merneptah

This dynasty declined as infighting for the throne between the heirs of

Merneptah 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, ...

increased.

Amenmesse Amenmesse (also Amenmesses or Amenmose) was the fifth pharaoh of the Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty in Ancient Egypt, possibly the son of Merneptah and Queen Takhat. Others consider him to be one of the innumerable sons of Rames ...

apparently usurped the throne from Merneptah's son and successor,

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 Ra, Re, the chosen one of Re. ...

, but he ruled Egypt for only four years. After his death, Seti regained power and destroyed most of Amenmesse's monuments. Seti was served at court by

Chancellor Bay Bay, also called Ramesse Khamenteru (died 1192 BC), was an important Asiatic official in ancient Egypt, who rose to prominence and high office under Seti II Userkheperure Setepenre and later became an influential powerbroker in the closing stages ...

, who was originally just a 'royal scribe' but quickly became one of the most powerful men in Egypt, gaining the unprecedented privilege of constructing his own tomb in the

Valley of the Kings The Valley of the Kings ( ar, وادي الملوك ; Late Coptic: ), also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings ( ar, وادي أبوا الملوك ), is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th ...

(

KV13 Tomb KV13, located in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, was cut and decorated for the burial of the noble Bay of the Nineteenth Dynasty. An ostraca published in the French Egyptological journal BIFAO in 2000 records that Chancellor Bay was execu ...

). Both Bay and Seti's chief wife,

Twosret Twosret, also spelled ''Tawosret'' or ''Tausret'' (d. 1189 BC conventional chronology) was the last known ruler and the final pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. She is recorded in Manetho's Epitome as a certain ''Thuoris, who in Homer ...

, had a sinister reputation in Ancient Egyptian folklore. After

Siptah Akhenre Setepenre Siptah or Merenptah Siptah was the penultimate ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. His father's identity is currently unknown. Both Seti II and Amenmesse have been suggested although the fact that Siptah later changed his r ...

's death, Twosret ruled Egypt for two more years, but she proved unable to maintain her hold on power amid the conspiracies and powerplays being hatched at the royal court. She was likely ousted in a revolt led by

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 son ...

, founder of the

20th Dynasty The Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XX, alternatively 20th Dynasty or Dynasty 20) is the third and last dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1189 BC to 1077 BC. The 19th and 20th Dynasties furthermore toget ...

Pharaohs of the 19th Dynasty

The

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...

s of the 19th Dynasty ruled for approximately 110 years: from c. 1292 to 1187 BC. 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.

Timeline of the 19th Dynasty

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea = top:100 bottom:100 right:100 left:100 AlignBars = early DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:-1292 till:-1170 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:-1292 Colors = id:canvas value:rgb(0.97,0.97,0.97) id:PA value:green id:GP value:red Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Rulers PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till barset:Rulers from: -1292 till: -1290 color:PA text:"

(

1292 BC The 1290s BC is a decade which lasted from 1299 BC to 1290 BC. Events and trends * c. 1295 BC–1186 BC–Great Temple of Amun, Karnak, is built. New Kingdom. * 1292 BC—End of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, start of the Nineteenth Dynasty ...

– 1290 BC)" from: -1290 till: -1279 color:PA text:"

( 1290 BC –

1279 BC The 1270s BC is a List of decades, decade which lasted from 1279 BC to 1270 BC. {{Decadebox BC, 127 Events and trends *1279 BC—Pharaoh Seti I dies after an 11-year reign. *c. 1279 BC—Troy, Troy VI, speculated to be the city mentioned in Hom ...

)" from: -1279 till: -1213 color:PA text:"

(

– 1213 BC)" from: -1213 till: -1203 color:PA text:"

( 1213 BC – 1203 BC)" from: -1203 till: -1199 color:PA text:"

( 1203 BC – 1199 BC)" from: -1203 till: -1197 color:PA text:"

( 1203 BC –

1197 BC The 1190s BC is a decade which lasted from 1199 BC to 1190 BC. Events and trends * 1197 BC—The beginning of the first period (1197 BC–982 BC) according to Shao Yong's concept of the I Ching and history. * 1194 BC—The beginning of the lege ...

)" from: -1197 till: -1191 color:PA text:"

(

–

1191 BC The 1190s BC is a decade which lasted from 1199 BC to 1190 BC. Events and trends * 1197 BC—The beginning of the first period (1197 BC– 982 BC) according to Shao Yong's concept of the I Ching and history. * 1194 BC—The beginning of the legen ...

)" from: -1191 till: -1189 color:PA text:"

(

– 1189 BC)" barset:skip

Gallery of images

File:Sethos I 01.jpg, Seti I File:Abu Simbel 008.jpg, Ramesses II File:Twosret.jpg, Twosret File:Shabti of Siptah MET DP109391.jpg, Shabti of Siptah File:BayIrsu.jpg, Chancellor Bay File:Turin statue of Seti II.jpg, Seti II

References

{{Authority control States and territories established in the 13th century BC States and territories disestablished in the 12th century BC 19 New Kingdom of Egypt 13th century BC in Egypt 12th century BC in Egypt 13th-century BC establishments in Egypt 12th-century BC disestablishments in Egypt 19