Ramesses III Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

ABSTRACT: This lecture covers the reign of Sethnakht/Setnakht briefly, and focuses mainly on Ramesses III, including the Libyan invasions, the Sea Peoples, other activities (e.g., raid against Shasu; building projects), a workmen's strike, the harem conspiracy, the Medinet Habu complex (in detail) and Ramesses III's tomb (briefly). REVISED: March 2021, including selected sources, new slides and text, editing and re-formatting some earlier text.

- by
- •
- Ancient Egyptian Religion, History, Ancient History, Archaeology

In modern literatures, the location of Pi-Hahiroth at which the Pharaoh of Moses sank is unknown; and during the reign of which Pharaohs the Israelites have lived in Egypt is still unconfirmed. Besides, the historic and chronological scenarios suggested by modern scholars regarding this period differ from those mentioned by the Greek and medieval historians. Therefore, the paper shows the location of a mouth of an inland lake, in the western coast of Sinai that ramifies from the Suez Gulf, which according to Al Maqrizi the medieval Egyptian historian, Moses and the Israelites crossed it during the exodus. Regarding the dissimilarity in chronological data from different sources, the paper shows that the Egyptians used diverse time intervals, and four types of years, namely: the Earth's solar year of ~365 days, the pilgrimage year of 6 months, the administrative year of 3 months, and the lunar year of ~30 days. Besides, regarding the dissimilarity in historic scenarios and names of pharaohs, the paper shows how to pronounce their names, similar to that mentioned by Greek and medieval historians, using the proper phonetic values and color-codes of signs, in addition to the rule of pronouncing the core and cover parts of the word in black texts. Finally, the paper shows that the pharaohs of Abraham, Joseph, and Moses are the so-called Amenhotep-III, Seti-I, and Ramesses-V, respectively.

- by Hossam Aboulfotouh
- •
- Archaeology, Egyptology, Archaeoastronomy, Ramesses II

Abstract
In this article I propose to show that in his eighth regnal year Ramesses III campaigned against the Philistines on the Northern borders of Canaan and where halted by them. Ramesses was victorious in a pitched battle, routed them to their home and destroyed their kingdom – “the Land of Palestine”. This land was recently located in the Amuq plain in Southern Turkey – the ancient Kingdom of Alalakh.

- by Dan'el Kahn
- •
- Palestine, Egyptian History, New Kingdom (Egyptology), 20th Dynasty

The appearance of the brailed rig and loose–footed sail at the end of the Late Bronze Age revolutionized seafaring in the eastern Mediterranean. The most famous early appearance of this new technology is found in history’s first visual representation of a naval battle, on the walls of Ramesses III’s mortuary temple at Medinet Habu. In this monumental combat scene, both Egyptian and Sea Peoples ships are depicted with this new rig, as well as top–mounted crow’s nests and decking upon which shipborne warriors do battle. The identical employment of these innovative components of maritime technology by opposing forces in this battle suggests either some level of previous contact between the invaders and those responsible for designing and constructing Egypt’s ships of war, or shared interaction with a third party, perhaps on the Syro–Canaanite coast. This article examines the evidence for the development of the brailed rig in the eastern Mediterranean, and explores the possibility that at least one group of Sea Peoples, who may have comprised a key part of the international economy of the Late Bronze Age in their role as “pirates, raiders, and traders” (Georgiou 2012: 527) – Artzy’s “nomads of the sea” (1997) – played a similarly integral role in the transference of maritime technology between the Levant, Egypt, and the Aegean.

- by Jeff Emanuel
- •
- History, Ancient History, Military History, Archaeology

ABSTRACT: Lecture 21 ("Sea Peoples") appears in a variety of shorter, longer, and different forms in other courses I teach (e.g., Syria-Palestine; Ancient Mesopotamia; Imperial and Post-Imperial Egypt), and includes a summary of the 13th century BC decline, a ca. "1200 BCE" (1177 BC) "collapse," and the 12th century BC aftermath of the Late Bronze Age in the Aegean, Anatolia, Levant (mainly Syria-Palestine), and Egypt. It includes a summary and selected bibliography at the end, extracted from a recent overview article I wrote on the Sea Peoples (published in Fall 2018). REVISED: Adding some new text, slides, edits, and new formatting (April, 2024).

The goal of this volume is to examine one key aspect of the transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Iron I in the Southern Levant, the development and changes in interregional exchange both over time and in the region as a whole. Interregional exchange is most easily seen in the appearance and disappearance of non-local material culture and materials. Twelve non-local types of material culture were collected into a database in order to track the development of interregional exchange over the course of the LBA to the Iron I. With this data, we can ask what effect if any did changes in interregional exchange have on the ‚collapse‘ of the LBA societies in the Southern Levant. To help answer this question, I also explore briefly the theory of collapse, and the various proposed causes for the ‚collapse‘ at the end of the LBA in the Eastern Mediterranean along with the theories for trade and exchange in anthropology and archaeology. Another key aspect of this work is the examination of the supposed wave of destruction which took the Southern Levant by storm asking to see if these events might have affected trade and contributed to the transitions during the end of the LBA into the Iron I. In all this work seeks to see what changes took place in interregional exchange, how might destruction have affected this, and was this the cause for the transition to the Iron I.

- by Jesse Millek
- •
- Ancient History, Archaeology, Levantine Archaeology, Ancient Near East

Various Greek authors from the Archaic to the Roman period refer to a migration of population groups from the Aegean and West Anatolia to Pamphylia and Cilicia in the aftermath of the Trojan War. The meagre archaeological evidence, as well as the Arcadocypriot and Mycenaean elements in the Pamphylian dialect, fits with this narrative. Furthermore, from (at least) the end of the 10th to the late 8th centuries a kingdom, which was called Hiyawa in Luwian and Qw or ‘mq ’dn in Phoenician inscriptions, controlled Cilicia and possibly also a part of Pamphylia. Its subjects were called Hiyawa in Luwian and dnnym in Phoenician. The term Hiyawa stems from the Hittite geographic term Ahhiyawa, which referred to one of the Mycenaean kingdoms in the Aegean during the LBA; both Ahhiyawa and Hiyawa derive from the ethnonym 'Achaean'. At least one of the rulers of the Kingdom of Hiyawa considered himself to be a descendant of Muksas/mpš, which shows that the later stories about Mopsos were not entirely fictitious. The Achaean settlers in Cilicia gradually fused with the Luwian population. Herodotus later called them Hypachaeans, which implies that they were neither Achaeans or Greeks, nor Luwians or Cilicians. Further waves of Aegean migrants continued to arrive mainly in Pamphylia and Cilicia Tracheia at least until the 7th century. These later migrants were also gradually amalgamated with the indigenous population and their vernacular became heavily influenced by the local Luwian dialects.

- by Konstantinos Kopanias and +1
- •
- Phoenicians, Anatolian Archaeology, Luwian, Aegean Bronze Age (Bronze Age Archaeology)

Ramesside Studies in Honour of K. A. Kitchen is a series of 46 papers devoted to aspects of Egypt in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties.
This book, which has been written to honour the most eminent Ramesside scholar of his generation, includes contributions from some of the leading Egyptologists from around the world. As such, this volume is a landmark collection of studies on the state of Ramesside scholarship in the early 21st century.

- by Steven Snape
- •
- Egyptology, Ramesses II, Ramesside Period, Ramesses III

This paper begins with a historiographic survey of the treatment of Ramesses III’s claimed war campaigns in the Levant. Inevitably this involves questions regarding the so-called “Sea Peoples.” There have been extraordinary fluctuations in attitudes towards Ramesses III’s war records over the last century or more – briefly reviewed and assessed here. His lists of Levantine toponyms also pose considerable problems of interpretation. A more systematic approach to their analysis is offered, concentrating on the “Great Asiatic List” from the Medinet Habu temple and its parallels with a list from Ramesses II. A middle way between “minimalist” and “maximalist” views of the extent of Ramesses III’s campaigns is explored. This results in some new identifications which throw light not only on the geography of Ramesses III’s campaigns but also his date.

- by Baruch Brandl
- •
- Archaeology, Iconography, Ugaritic Studies, ANE Cylinder Seals

Abstract It is the purpose of this article to address the identity of the auxiliary Asiatic troops mentioned in the Elephantine Stele of Sethnakhte, founder of the Twentieth Dynasty. The identity of these auxiliaries will help to... more

- by Dan'el Kahn
- •
- Setnakht, Ramesses III, Amurru, Medinet Habu

The Sherden were a part of Sea Peoples who attacked Egypt during the Ramesside period. The Sherden raiders were enemies of Egypt at the beginning of the reign of Ramesses II, who proclaimed its victory on them. After their defeat, many of them were captured and integrated into the Egyptian army, becoming one of the best troops of foreign auxiliaries. They were used by Egyptians during all the Ramesside period. They served as units of infantry or as bodyguard of the king. The famous reliefs describing the battle of Kadesh and the battle of Dapour in the time of Ramesses II, the Libyan war of Merenptah, and the Libyan and northern wars of Ramesses III, refer to the significant presence of the Sherden units in the Egyptian army. This paper surveys and discusses the military role of Sherden warriors in the Egyptian army during the Ramesside period.

Edition of stela MAA 1939.552, which was discovered in Amara West in 1938, but which was never properly published. The text is of a military nature and records a yet unknown land battle against the Philistines in the year 3 of a king whose name is lost. Whereas the stela was previously assigned to Ramses IV, a dating into the reign of Ramses III is proposed, thereby predating the beginning of the conflict with this group of the Sea Peoples by five years. Moreover, the text is partially incised in hieratic, which is unusual for royal war reports, and thus it provides further, exceptional evidence for lapidary hieratic.

- by Lutz Popko
- •
- Hieratic, Ramesside Period, Philistines, Ramesses III

ABSTRACT: This lecture (no. 11) begins with a brief consideration of the various textual-pictorial and archaeological sources for, biases in, and approaches to reconstructing LB Age cross-cultural relations. It continues with an overview of the political landscape of the East Mediterranean and Near East during this period, and then the different chronologies and cross-cultural comparisons during the Late Bronze Age. The next section entails selected historical and archaeological data (especially the Amarna Letters) regarding the diverse relations between the East Mediterranean and Near East, including Egypt’s New Kingdom relations with Near Eastern states and peoples, vassal city-states (in Egypt's northern, Canaanite empire), and contact with neighbouring peoples, kingdoms and empires (e.g., the Aegean; Arzawa; Hatti; Cyprus [Alashiya]; Mitanni; Assyria; and Babylonia). The lecture proceeds with assessing maritime and some overland trade with and between neighbouring states and peoples by looking at the Uluburun and Cape Gelidoniya shipwrecks (off the coast of southwest Turkey) and the Red Sea and overland connections with Punt and Arabia during the Late Bronze Age. This lecture draws upon selected materials (i.e., ppt. slides) extracted, re-formatted, and revised from other courses I teach (e.g., Anth.310: Imperial & post-imperial Egypt; Anth.340: Archaeology & history of Bible Lands), plus the addition of new materials and a re-organization of the presentation to follow the course textbook's coverage of the Ancient Near East during the LB Age. A later lecture will focus on Mesopotamia itself (e.g., Assyria; Babylonia; Elam). UPDATED: 2022 Spring offering.

- by Gregory Mumford
- •
- Ancient History, Archaeology, Maritime Archaeology, Near Eastern Archaeology

The sarcophagus of Ramesses III was removed from his tomb in the Valley of the Kings in the early 19th century and was moved to two different museums: the Musée du Louvre in Paris now holds the coffer (Inv. No. D1), while the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge houses the lid (Inv. No. E.1.1823). In Egyptological literature, many contrasting versions exist of who removed the sarcophagus and its lid from the tomb, who broke the lid and when, or if it was even retrieved from the tomb of Ramesses III (KV 11). This article seeks to clarify the confusion concerning the removal of the sarcophagus by revisiting the travelogues of early travellers to Egypt. Moreover, the excavations of Ted Brock in the 1980’s as well as recent fieldwork by The Ramesses III (KV 11) Publication and Conservation Project have brought to light additional sarcophagus fragments. These archaeological finds raise the question whether Ramesses III owned more than one sarcophagus, or who else were the owners of those sarcophagi.

In the ancient times an attack on privileged people, i.e. those who held the power in their hands, was regarded as an exceptionally serious crime. The at-tempted murder of the most important man in ancient Egypt, the king RamessesIII, aroused a considerable indignation which is shown by the trials which fol-lowed. Moreover on the background of this case we can see other interestinginformation such as the characteristics of Egyptian law or the way of dealingwith the sudden failure of the objectivity of the justice.

- by Michaela Knollová
- •
- Ancient History, Criminal Law, Criminal Justice History, Ancient Egypt

This volume represents the proceedings of the third BICANE Colloquium* held at Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge from March 26-27, 2011 (see Figure 1, p. vi, and 2 p. x below).The third BICANE colloquium focussed on two key figures: Shishak and Solomon. The Old Testament describes a period of great prosperity and strength for Israel during the reigns of kings David and Solomon. The alleged ‘golden age’ ended – as the biblical narrative relates – because of oppressive measures used to work the people and the machinations of an Egyptian pharaoh referred to as ‘King Shishak’. He fostered Jeroboam I, who led a revolt in the northern region (Israel) and in the 5th year of Solomon’s successor, Rehoboam, invaded Judah c. 925 BC, attacked its strongholds and took tribute of the treasures from the Temple built by Solomon. Hardly a single point of the biblical story has remained undisputed in recent years.

- by Peter James
- •
- Dendrochronology, Ancient Israel, Ramesses III, Radiocarbon Dating (Archaeology)

Fragment C (KRI V 247, 1–8) is a large loose block with parts of eight lines of Ramesses III’s Great Double Stela in Karnak. Its exact position has been debated since the 1950s. The present paper provides philological and epigraphical arguments for its placement to the upper part of the Northern Stela of Ramesses III’s double monument. The new reading of lines 7–14 of the Northern Stela, which is presented here in hieroglyphic transcript as well as in transliteration and translation, respects the coherence of the overall articulation of the double inscription.

- by Filip Taterka
- •
- Ancient Egypt, Ramesses III, Harem, Harem Conspiracy
- by René van Helden
- •
- 20th Dynasty, Ramesside Period, Setnakht, Ramesses III
- by Uroš Matić
- •
- History, Egyptology, Late Bronze Age archaeology, Aegean Late Bronze Age
- by John Coleman Darnell
- •
- Ancient Egyptian Religion, Egyptology, Egyptian language, Egypt

This paper summarizes the discovery at Lachish of a cache of metal objects which includes an object bearing a cartouche of Pharaoh Ramesses III. It was published as Section E, Chapter 23, in D. Ussishkin, The Renewed Archaeological... more

- by David Ussishkin
- •
- Biblical Archaeology, Late Bronze Age archaeology, Ramesses III, Lachish
- by Lukasz Tobola
- •
- Biblical Studies, Ramesses II, Ramesses III, History of Ancient Israel

The goal of the present paper is to examine how chariots, and in particular royal chariots, are depicted in war scenes on wall reliefs both in New Kingdom Egypt, mostly representative examples from 19th (1549-1298 BC) and 20th Dynasty (1298-1069 BC), and in the Neo-Assyrian Empire (934-609 BC). Chronologically, the present discussion encompasses both the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1550-1070 BC) and Iron Age (ca. 1100-600 BC). Geographically speaking, the study focuses on Egypt and Northern Mesopotamia.

- by Arianna Sacco
- •
- Ancient History, Archaeology, Iconography, Ramesses II

It was after I wrote my book "Shishak Mystery Solved" that it occurred to me that there was another mystery embedded within its pages which I had not addressed. Why did God tell the Hebrew Scribes writing the Hebrew Scriptures in his name... more

- by Fred Harding
- •
- Ancient History, Ancient Egyptian History, Ramesses III, Shishak

Abstract
The royal sources (royal inscriptions, reliefs, topographical lists) of Ramesses III, even though using many literary clichés, the stereotypic depictions of the defeat and subjugation of Egypt's enemies: Kush, Amurru, Libya and against the Peoples of the Sea, as well as royal economic missions mentioned in Papyrus Harris I to Punt (77:8-78:1), Sinai (78:6-8), as well as a minor war against the Shasu of Se‘ir, ( Papyrus Harris I 76:10-11), an expedition to the Timna copper mines in the ‘Arabah (78:1-5), and Arabia, seem to be corroborated by archaeological finds, or at least are feasible to imagine. It is the purpose of this paper to consider the historicity of Ramesses III's claims regarding his military victories against the Northern Levant, i.e. against the Asiatics, Hittites, and even Trans-Euphratene polities (Naharina). It is claimed that the sources of Ramesses III, are not mere unhistorical copies (even though some are clearly based on artistic plagiates from earlier rulers), but depict actual events. If these descriptions can be regarded as authentic, they may shed additional light on Ramesses III achievements in the Northern Levant during his second decade of reign.

- by Dan'el Kahn
- •
- Ramesses III, Amurru, Sea Peoples, Medinet Habu

ABSTRACT: Following documentary Ancient Lives PART-2, which is often available via Youtube links, Anc. Lives 2 / 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEjRDK2uOVk (or via dvd available via Amazon.com or other venues). John Romer details the daily lives of the New Kingdom tomb builders of pharaoh, concentrating upon diverse archaeological and textual-pictorial data from their home village of Deir el-Medina and its environs, including their work place (the Valley of the Kings; the Valley of the Queens [Ramesside period]), and associated parts of Thebes (e.g., the town of West Thebes; Medinet Habu; East Thebes; Karnak Temple). This documentary response sheet contains a series of sequential questions drawn from the video, Athena: Ancient Lives, episode 2 (shown in-class; also available online via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEjRDK2uOVk [52 minutes]). These sequential questions aim to maximize both student attention to various pertinent points made throughout the documentary and greater retention of the materials covered by the documentary. In addition, the documentary has been vetted for overall content accuracy (albeit updated and/or corrected in-class), and selected to provide supplementary visual aids (e.g., images of regions, sites, finds, and other materials; re-enactments), and other data to aid in student comprehension of the course lectures and readings from the textbooks. REVISED: Adding video/dvd time indicator for each question (Jan. 27, 2017).

- by Gregory Mumford
- •
- Egyptology, Art History, Egyptian Archaeology, Village Studies

In recent years the traditional view of the Philistine settlement has been called into question by a growing number of scholars. Rather than being understood as a result of population movement, the sudden appearance of the intrusive Philistine material culture in southern coastal Canaan during the first half of the 12th century B.C. is attributed to mechanisms of trade. Locally produced Mycenaean IIIC:1b pottery, the widely held hallmark of the Philistine settlement, is now seen by some as reflecting the activity of a loose confederation of maritime merchants based in Cyprus, who distributed massive quantities of this type of pottery throughout the eastern Mediterranean. The archaeological evidence, however, does not support this alternative explanatory model. Three aspects of the Philistine settlement belie assigning to trade such a formative role in the foundation of these sites: 1) the complete absence of imports, 2) the fully urbanized character of the sites and socioeconomically diverse range of the population, and 3) the clear destruction levels directly preceding Philistine strata. In short, the available evidence best fits the traditional model of the Philistine settlement: hostile invasion by a migrating population bearing a distinctively new material culture.