Egypt’s Museums: The Postal Museum presents a romantic history of letter sending

Egypt’s Museums: The Postal Museum presents a romantic history of letter sending

Abu Simbel

By Marie Parsons

Perhaps after the Giza pyramids, or coincident with them, the great temple of Abu Simbel presents the most familiar image of ancient Egypt to the modern traveler and reader. When the conservation efforts to preserve the temple from the soon-to be built High Aswan Dam and its rising waters were begun in the 1960s, images of the colossal statues filled newspapers and books. The temples were dismantled and relocated in 1968 on the desert plateau, 200 feet above and 600 feet west of their original location.

Abu Simbel lies south of Aswan on the western bank of the Nile, 180 miles south of the First Cataract in what was Nubia. The site was known as Meha in ancient times and was first documented in the 18th Dynasty, when Ay and Horemheb had rock-cut chapels hewn in the hills to the south.

Ramesses II, called "the Great," built seven rock-cut temples in Nubia. The rock-cut temple of Ramesses II on the west bank of the Nile at Abu Simbel is the greatest of these. This temple was not seen by Europeans until J.J. Burckhardt discovered them in 1813.

The temple, called Hwt Ramesses Meryamun, the "Temple of Ramesses, beloved of Amun," was begun fairly early in Ramesses’ long reign, commissioned some time after his fifth regnal year, but not completed until his 35th regnal year. The massive facade of the main temple is dominated by the four seated colossal statues of Ramesses. These familiar representations are of Ramesses II himself. Each statue, 67 feet high, is seated on a throne and wears the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. Each is taller than the famed Memnon Colossus at Thebes, and all are sculpted directly from the rock face. The thrones are decorated on their sides with Nile gods symbolically uniting Egypt.

Burckhardt said of the first face on the left that it "was the most expressive, youthful countenance, approaching nearer to the Grecian model of beauty than that of any ancient Egyptian figure I have seen."

An ancient earthquake damaged the statues. One is demolished from the waist up.

Between the legs and on each of their sides stand smaller statues of members of the royal family. The smaller statues of relatives were probably, for the first southern colossus: Queen Nefretari by the left leg, the king’s mother, the great wife of Seti I, Muttuya by his right leg, and Prince Amenhirkhopshef in front. For the second southern colossus, Princess Bent’anta stood by the left leg, Princess Nebettawyby the left, and one unnamed female figure, probably that of a lesser royal wife named Esenofre.

The family statues at the first northern colossus were, Queen Nefretari, Princess Beketmut and Prince Riameses in front. For the second northern colossus, there were Princess Merytamun, Queen Muttuya and Princess Nofretari.

Beneath these giant sculptures are carved figures of bound captives.

The forecourt or terrace which fronted the temple contained two tanks for the ablutions of the priests. On the northern side of this terrace stood a small sun-chapel, and on the south, stood a chapel of the god Thoth. Above the entrance, a figure of the falcon-headed sun-god Ra is shown worshipped by flanking images of Ramesses. The rebus figure of Ra contains the prenomen of Ramesses II, or Userma’atre: the falcon headed god Ra has next to his right leg the glyph showing the head and neck of an animal, read User, and the goddess at his left leg is ma’at. At the top of the temple façade is a row of baboon statues in adoring attitudes, said to welcome the rising sun.

A stela at the southern end of the external terrace is called "the Marriage Stela," and is a copy of the record of one of Ramesses II’s diplomatic triumphs, his marriage to a daughter of the Hittite king Hattusilis III.

Within the temple a series of chambers becomes increasingly smaller as the floors of the rooms rise noticeably.

This is a basic convention of temple design, as one moves into the temple deeper to the sanctuary which would contain the primeval mound of creation, rising out of the waters of Nun.

The first hall within the temple contains eight large statues of the king as Osiris, four on each side, which also serve as pillars to support the roof. The walls are decorated in relief with scenes showing the king in battle, including the great battle of Kadesh on the north, and Syrian, Libyan and Nubian wars on the south wall, and also presenting prisoners to the gods.

On the north entrance wall in this Hypostyle hall a scene shows Ramesses in the presence of Amun, to whom the king appealed during his battle at Kadesh against the Hittites.

Behind the first hall is a second smaller hall with ritual offering scenes. Here in one scene both Ramesses and Nefertari are depicted before the sacred barque of Amun, and in another, before the sacred barque of Ra-Horakhaty. Three doors lead from here into a vestibule, and then one reaches the sanctuary.

The sanctuary contains a small altar and in its rear niche are four statues. These cult images represent Ramesses II himself, and the three state gods of the New Kingdom, Ra-Horakhty of Heliopolis, Ptah of Memphis and Amun-Ra of Thebes. Before the statues rests a block upon which would have rested the sacred barque itself.

The axis of the temple is arranged so that on two days of the year, in February and October, the rising sun shoots its rays through the entrance and halls until it finally illuminates the sanctuary statues.

To the north of the main temple a smaller temple was built in honor of Ramesses’ great wife, Nefertari, and the goddess Hathor. This temple should not be confused with the beautiful Tomb to Nefertari in the Valley of Queens near Thebes.

As with Ramesses’ own temple, the cliff face was cut back to resemble sloping walls of a pylon. Six colossal standing figures 33 feet high four of Ramesses and two of Nefertari, were cut from the rock face, along with smaller figures of the royal family. An inscription over the entrance reads "Ramesses II, he has made a temple, excavated in the mountain, of eternal workmanship, for the chief queen Nefertari, beloved of Mu, in Nubia, forever and ever, Nefertari for whose sake the very sun does shine."

Inside, Nefertari’s temple has a single pillared hall, with carved Hathor heads atop the pillars. On the sides facing the center of the hypostyle; Ramesses is shown smiting his enemies and offering before various gods, while Nefertari is shown, graceful and slender, with hands raised. Three doors lead to a vestibule with ancillary rooms at either end.

The sanctuary is complete, though two spaces were left on its side walls for doors to rooms, which were never cut. The inner chamber contains a number of images interrelating the royal couple and the gods. On the rear wall, Hathor is depicted in high relief as a cow emerging from the western mountain, with the king standing beneath her chin. Nefertari is shown repeatedly participating in the divine rituals on an equal footing with the king. On the left wall, Nefertari is seen worshipping before Mut and Hathor, and on the right, Ramesses worships before images of his deified self and his wife.

When Greek mercenaries passed by in the 6th century BCE, sand already reached the knees of the statues. These ancient sight-see-ers left an inscription which reads "When King Psammetichus came to Elephantine, this was written by those who sailed with Psammetichus the son of Theolces, and they came beyond Kerkis as far as the river permits."

Sources:

• Cultural Atlas of Ancient Egypt by John Baines and Jaromir Malek
• Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt
• Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt by Richard Wilkinson

Ramesses II: Anatomy of a Pharaoh His Family (Specifically, his Children)

Ramesses II: Anatomy of a Pharaoh

His Family (Specifically, his Children)
by Jimmy Dunn

How the early, predynastic leadership of Egypt was developed is certainly debatable. However, many Egyptologists believe that the early chieftains gradually gained a sphere of influence because they knew how to harness the Nile River, and the fertility of the Nile Valley. Rather than being warier kings, they knew how to lead others in feeding their people.
Throughout Egypt's pharaonic history, the King of Egypt was thought to intercede with the gods to assure fertile Nile floods, and hence, food to feed the masses. This was one of the reasons that great temples were built, and the priesthood furnished with wealth. When the Nile floods came up short, the king could also be blamed as well. But fertility stretched beyond Egypt's crops. At a time when the world's human population was small, and death at birth or early infancy was considerable, human fertility was also important, and it was most important for the Pharaoh, who needed to produce an heir to the throne of Egypt. We believe that fully one third of all children did not live to reach their fifteenth year.

Producing a crown prince was not always easy, even though the pharaohs often had numerous wives. The ladies of his harem who were expected to produce a future heir were often close family members, including even full sisters at times. Hence, a pharaoh who, even with the "assistance" of a number of queens, prodigiously produced children, including a number of males, might be considerably proud of such a feat. Indeed, Ramesses II of Egypt's 19th Dynasty was such a pharaoh, and because of his long life, this was very lucky, because twelve of his oldest sons would die before their father.

In fact, because Ramesses II featured so many of his children in depictions and statuary, and the fact that we have considerable documentary evidence from this period, we learn much about the treatment and importance of royal children, at least during this period, some of which might seem surprising to us.
For example, Ramesses II provided us with a number of processions of both sons and daughters (sometimes together), depicted on the walls of his monuments at such locations as Thebes (The Temple of Luxor and the Ramesseum) and Abu Simbel. While Ramesses II may have had any number of other children by very minor consorts, those of his principal wives (see also, his women) are ordered apparently by age, only, without regard to the importance of their mothers, with most probably even the children of minor wives following those of Nefertari and Iset-Nofret (his two principal wives). Indeed, the order of this list appears to have probably been the same as the line of succession (for the sons) so that those of Iset-Nofret bearing the same opportunities (given their birth order) as that of Nefertari, Ramesses II's actual chief wife. Of course, it would eventually be Merenptah, a son of Iset-Nofret, who would inherit the throne of Egypt.

Perhaps even more interest, given this information, is Iset-Nofret's apparent lack of real importance to Ramesses II. Her image is infrequently depicted, and when it is, seems to have been the work of her famous son, Khaemwese rather than Ramesses II. Yet we find images and references to her daughter, particularly that of Bent'anta (Bintanath, Bint-Anath, Bintanat) who later became the first of Ramesses II's daughters that he married, which predate those of her mother. In many cases, the princesses of consorts were given more importance then their mothers. In any event, it is very notable that even the sons and daughters of relatively minor consorts were given considerably more attention then their mothers, even though they might have never stood a chance of becoming king.
How Ramesses II interacted with his children is relatively unknown to us. Some children of the minor queens perhaps saw little of the royal court. They may have even been portrayed in the processions simply to enhance their father's reputation, but it would appear that some thought was given to these children, perhaps especially to those who showed talent. For example, we are told of Prince Simontu, who was Ramesses II's 23 son and who served as an able administrator of the royal vineyard at Memphis. Others, such as Prince Ramesses-Meriamen-Nebweben (son number 46) may have been virtually ignored. He seems to have died during his thirties while still living in one of the harem palaces.

However, the sons of the principal queens, particularly those who were the oldest and therefore had a chance to become king, must have received considerably more attention. Perhaps most of these sons accompanied Ramesses II on military expeditions at one time or another, and several of them ended up acquiring a talent of martial leadership, becoming generals. These included his eldest son, Amenhirkhepeshef, who became General-in-Chief, and Prehirwenemef, his third son who was given the titles, "First Brave of the Army" and later "First Charioteer of His Majesty". Most of the sons were probably give the opportunity to prove themselves in battle, but some appear to have not taken to this way of life, such as Khaemwaset, his forth son. His talents seem to have been of a more intellectual nature, so he was allowed, as others, and even encouraged, to purse a career as a priest. In this, he excelled becoming famous as a sage and as the creator of the Serapaeum at Saqqara. Merenptah, the 13th son of Ramesses II who would be lucky enough to eventually outlived his older brothers and become king, was initially responsible for administration of the Delta region as far south as Memphis. While he may not have been recognized officially as a co-regent of his father, he was probably responsible for the kingdoms stewardship during the final twelve years of his father's long life.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Ramesses II's daughters is what became of the minor princesses. We know what became of the most senior of his daughters who lived past the age of puberty. They were wed to their father, a situation which seems not so unpleasant to them as it would of course be today. However, we know little about most of the other, more minor daughters. Some were no doubt lucky enough to have married brothers, who would accept them, for while a minor prince might marry most anyone, the choice for princesses were usually limited to those of their own royal status. Those that did not marry, as well as some who did, no doubt served the temples and gods in some capacity. Some may have even become minor wives of Ramesses II, though mostly as invisible to us as their mother's might have been.
Of Kings and Family
The question that many would ask, is how did the royal family of Egypt compare to our own modern families, or for that matter, even modern royal families. Was there intimacy, and intimate moments? Could we find touching scenes of family life, and was there great love between husband, wife and the kids?
Regrettably, we may never know the answers to these questions, but we might take a stab at a few responses.
For the typical child of the king's harem, and particularly for those of minor kings, intimacy was certainly shared mostly between mother and child. This was probably even true for the youngest children of Ramesses II's principal queens, though at times it is possible that father, mother and their children came together as a family unit. While we find few such depictions during the reign of Ramesses II there are those, for example, during the reign of Akhenaten that do seem to reveal considerable family intimacy, and others from many period that depict ordinary Egyptians displaying great affection for their wives and children. Yet Ramesses II was a hands-on king who spent considerable time during the early period of his reign either traveling back and forth along the Nile, or sometimes away on military campaigns, so he must have had little enough time to form the bonds of fatherhood.
However, we might assume, considering that Ramesses II began his family with both Nefertari and Iset-Nofret prior to his ascending the throne, when his offsprings were few, that we might have witnesses some moments similar to those depicted between Akhenaten, his wife and children. But it is also probable, that as time wore on and the harem swelled, and the eldest of Ramesses II's children passed on before him, that intimacy and deep love might become rare pleasures of this king, his feelings made numb more and more by the memories of earlier losses. In addition, favorites had to be closely controlled, for it probably would have done to show undue emotion to a more joyful younger son at the expense of an Arab parent.
Yet, for those first few, there are certainly allusions to Ramesses II's adoration. Of course, for Nefertari, his first "Chief King's Wife", there is the temple at Abu Simbel and the wonderful tomb in the Valley of the Queens, and there were also apparently separate tombs for several of his daughters who became his queens. We also find, built for at least his elder sons, if not for many more of his children, probably the largest tomb ever excavated in Egypt in the Valley of the Kings on the West Bank at Luxor (ancient Thebes).
Yet all of this is relevant, and not at all complete proof of Ramesses II's affection for his wives and children, because in the big scheme of things, certain aspects all of these efforts may have simply promoted the kingship, as well as the deification, of Ramesses II himself. Keep in mind, for example, that while the small temple at Abu Simbel may have been built to honor Nefertari, and her images in monumental form may be found on its facade, it is Ramesses II himself that occupies the walls within. Major Sections on Ramesses II

Ramesses II: Anatomy of a Pharaoh His Family (Specifically, his Women)

Ramesses II: Anatomy of a Pharaoh His Family

(Specifically, his Women)

by Jimmy Dunn

Before Ramesses II was a great king, he had a family and throughout his reign, his growing family would serve to strengthen his rule of Egypt. In fact, of all the rulers in Egypt, Ramesses II may have had one of the largest of all families, consisting of many wives, and as many as fifty
sons and fifty daughters of his principal consorts.

However, it is likely that his extended family was even much larger than this. He may have certainly sired children who he never even became aware of, by legitimate consorts. The Reign of Ramesses II was during a period of heightened status for royal women. After the rule of Queen Hatshepsut, Amenhotep III who was more or less usurped by his stepmother, seems to have reduced the importance of women for obvious reasons during the early part of the 18th Dynasty. But by the end of that period, and particularly during the beginning of the 19th Dynasty, the royal women were once again evident to the public eye, though perhaps not as politically ambitious as some of their predecessors.
The first woman Ramesses was involved with was, of course, his mother. Like all good Egyptians, both ancient and modern, he appears to have loved her and treated her with respect. She had really been a commoner at birth, the daughter of the Lieutenant of Chariotry, Raia. Her name was Tuya, or Mut-Tuya, and as so often happens in ancient Egypt, she outlived Ramesses II's real father, Seti I, by many years.
Luckily, in Egypt there was a place for both a new queen, as well as the king's mother. Upon the death of Seti I, Nefertari, Ramesses II's chief wife, took on the duties of the queen, while Tuya immediately shed those responsibilities for the influential role of King's Mother During this period, the function of King's Mother seems to have been accorded a political role, functioning as her son's advisor. In fact, it may have even fallen on her shoulders to protect the king's interest at home while he was away on foreign campaigns.

In fact, our best recordings of Tuya's life were provided from the period after her husband's death. We know that she was important enough politically to have corresponded with the Hittite court. We find her image in important monuments, such as the facade of her Abu Simbel temple where she appears on the same scale as the other royal women and sons., standing beside the second and fourth colossi. She was also featured in the Ramesseum where she sat in colossal form beside her much larger son in the first courtyard, and along with Nefertari, she shakes her sistrum on the walls of the hypostyle hall.
Her promotion by Ramesses II probably went beyond love, however. A king could gain status from that of his mother, and in fact he set out to rewrite the story of his own miraculous birth so as to provide himself with a divine father. Ramesses had actually been born to his common mother prior to his father ascending the throne. However, Ramesses, always a self promoter, which was not an unusual trait in Egyptian pharaohs, had inscribed a new tale of his birth where he was not only the son of Seti I, but of Amun, the high god himself. To many of those who study ancient Egyptian history, this is of course nothing new, but indeed, he was only the third New Kingdom pharaoh to make such a claim.
However, though mothers often outlived their sons in ancient Egypt, because of Ramesses II's extremely long life, Tuya did not. She appears to have died soon after his 22nd year as ruler of Egypt, and was interred in an impressive tomb in the Valley of the Queens (QV80).
Queens, Consorts and More than Enough of All

Even today, it is rare for a ruler, or president of any country to be unmarried. Likewise, in ancient Egypt it would have probably been blasphemous, violating Ma'at, the ancient Egyptian concept of balance and order. Practically, the pharaoh needed an heir from a legitimate queen, and in almost all cases, she fulfilled many other responsibilities to the people of Egypt.
In reality, the king of Egypt produced families on a number of different levels, according to the placement of his wives. The royal harem, an institution in ancient Egypt which appears to have had no counterpart in the private sector of those times, was not only the home of those most favored wives of the king, but also provided a patronage for the loose and unattached women of the court, including unmarried and widowed sisters, daughters and other family members of the king, foreign brides, high born Egyptian women, and numerous concubines of relatively humble birth who might also include the servants and attendants of the higher ranking ladies. It is likely that many of these ladies of Ramesses II's harem never even meet their king, let alone bore his child, but from year to year their would of course be a nursery resounding with the gurgles, yelps and whimpers of each year's crop of bouncing royal babies. Only those children of the king's primary wives, and of a few of his favored secondary consorts, would ever have the opportunity to become king, or for that matter, the opportunity for us to know of them.
The wife of an Egyptian pharaoh is often referred to by Egyptologists as a consort. This is probably due to the fact that in some people's minds, the Egyptian queen was not a wife because of the lack of a specific religious celebration of marriage. There appears to have been marriage contracts, but little in the way of our modern concept of a marriage ceremony. Also, to many of us today, the concept of having perhaps hundreds of "wives" negates the institution of holy matrimony. However, some astute queens probably welcomed this "sexual variety" for their husbands, for it may have relieved them from the frequent pregnancies that so often led to death in females of these times. Nevertheless, and regardless of our views, the "Chief King's Wife" was the closest counterpart of our modern concept of a wife.
The principal wives of Kings were almost always of royal blood and were often either the full or half sister of the king. These incestuous marriages, which we find few if any examples of in the general population, had several practical benefits to the crown ruler. They kept outsiders at arms length from the royal family, and produced at least a limited number of royal children eligible to inherit the thrown. Furthermore, they also ensured that a suitably trained princess would be placed in the most important role available to an Egyptian woman: that of queen. In fact, while the king could marry a commoner, or for that matter, whoever he wished, royal females could not marry below their royal status, and therefore the field of potential bridegrooms beyond their brother (or sometimes father) was extremely limited. Egyptian princesses were even denied marriage to foreign royalty, who might later claim some justification to the thrown of Egypt.

We are not sure of the parentage of Ramesses II's first principal wife (Chief King's Wife), Nefertari, though she had to have probably been of royal blood (though almost certainly not of the immediate royal family). It has been suggested that she may have been a daughter or at least related to King Ay (granddaughter, niece or great-niece), one of the last rulers of the 18th Dynasty. Ramesses II was the first ruler of the 19th Dynasty who, at the time he chose his principal queen, was already destined to rule Egypt. Other major wives included Istnofret (Iset-Nofret), Bent'anta (Bintanath), Merit-Amun (Meritamen), Nebttaui, Hentmire, Maathomeferure and perhaps, others. Several of these queens, such as Merit-Amun, were also his daughters.
These queens would have been the top tier in his harem, and some would have remained by his side much of the time (though during different periods of his rule). While the king would have maintained harems all along the Nile Valley in regional locations, with many women who he hardly knew, or knew not at all, these queens would have probably resided near their husband in the main palace harem.
Undoubtedly, Nefertari held some power over Ramesses II. It was probably love, but we cannot say for certain. Certainly, Miss Emelia Edwards though, upon visiting her temple at Abu Simbel, that Ramesses II loved her. She states:
"On every pillar, in every act of worship pictured on the walls, even in the sanctuary, we find the names of Ramesses and Nefertari 'coupled and inseparable'...We see, at all events, that Ramesses and Nefertari desired to leave behind them an imperishable record of the affection which united them on earth, and which they hoped would unit them in Amenti. What more do we need to know? We see the Queen was fair, that the King was in his prime. We divine the rest; and the poetry of the place at all events is ours. Even in these barren solitude's there is wafted to us a breath from the shores of old romance. We feel that love once passed this way, and that the ground is still hallowed where he trod."
There could be only one "Chief King's Wife" at any one time, and Nefertari held that designation from the beginning. What we do know is that Ramesses II lavished upon her at least several important monuments, including the small temple at Abu Simbel and her wonderful tomb in the Valley of the Queens.

Yet the many monuments that Ramesses II lavished upon Nefertari cannot simply be attributed to love. There is no question that a revered, respected and occasionally worshipped wife brought nothing but glory to her husband and so these monuments were also meant to honor their builder as well. In fact, within Nefertari's temple at Abu Simbel, it is not she, but rather the image of Ramesses II himself that adorns the inner walls of the sanctuary.
From the very beginning of her husband's reign, Nefertari appears as a dutiful wife, supporting Ramesses on all appropriate ceremonial occasions. She received the two titles, Mistress of the South and North, and Lady of the Two Lands, which parallel Ramesses II's titles. However, her duties extended considerably beyond that of simply supporting her husband from the rear ranks. She may have frequently filled in for her husband in certain ceremonies, often taking the male role and accompanied by one of her daughters as a "feminine side", so that Ma'at would be balanced.
Regrettably, while we may find any number of monuments, statues and decorations depicting Nefertari, we know precious little about her actual life. We do know that she was not the only one of his queens to be honored in an age when Egyptian kings did not always give outward recognition to their women. We find Nefertari missing from the jubilee celebrations of Ramesses II's 30th year in office, which may tentatively suggest that she died prior to this. She was buried in her wonderful tomb in the Valley of the Queens, but almost immediately, a new Chief King's Wife would have been selected.

However, Ramesses II's later wives are as mysterious to us as Nefertari, though he continued to build some monuments to them. It may have been Iset-Nofret who assumed the role of Chief King's Wife upon the death of Nefertari. However, she was completely contemporary to Nefertari, having probably married Ramesses II at the same time, and there is little evidence that can prove that she outlived Nefertari. Most of the artifacts and monuments depicting her seem to have actually been created by her famous priest son, Khaemwaset. One such monument was a stelae erected at the temple of Horemheb at Gebel Silsila sometimes between year 33 and 34 of Ramesses II's rule. Here, Iset-Nofret holds an ankh sign, the symbol of life, while her daughter Bintanath holds a papyrus. While this evidence is certainly limited, it would seem that by this time she had probably died. Of course, her most notable act was to give birth before her death to Ramesses II's thirteenth son, Merenptah, would would be the oldest of his children to outlive him, and thus take control of Egypt.
We really do not know for certain who became the Chief King's Wife after Nefertari, but it may well have been one of his daughters. The most suitable wife for a king of Egypt was the daughter of a king of Egypt, and Ramesses II was a stickler for tradition.He ended up marrying no less than four of his daughters (that we know of). They were Bintanath, Meritamen, Nebettawi and the relatively unknown Hentmire. In defence of these incestuous relationships of Ramesses II to our modern eyes, this was an ancient pharaonic custom among kings well established long before Ramesses II's lifetime.

Daughters of the King of Egypt had few possibilities of marriage. They were not allowed to marry below their position, or even to non-Egyptian royalty. Their only opportunities for marriage seems to have been either princes or the King himself, and in fact many princesses lived out their lives without a mate. Hence, since father-daughter incest is taboo in our modern, western societies, we would like to think of such a marriage as being purely symbolic, but this was clearly not the case. We know, for example, that Bintanath, the first daughter he married, bore him at least one child, and we have examples of other kings producing children by their daughters.

The dynamics these incestuous relationships are largely unknown. In some situations, the father, in this case Ramesses II, married a daughter it would seem as a replacement after the death of her mother. However, at other times the mother and daughter were married to the king at the same time. However, there is no simple indication that when the daughter married the king, she superceded her mother. In many cases, the mothers and daughters appear to act together. In fact, the daughters at times seem to act as deputy consorts, filling in for their older mothers whenever required. Some Egyptologists believe that the daughters provided a well earned for their mothers at an age when the older queen was past the child bearing age. However, it may have been that the mother could then fulfill the valuable and stately role of King's Mother. However, this was certainly not always the case.
Regardless, the daughters could assume significant status as queens. In the stela of Hekanakht at Abu Simbel, we find depicted a still living Nefertari sitting by as her daughter and much beloved offspring of Ramesses II, takes over her role as queen. While we have no positive evidence as confirmation, it may have been she who assumed the role of Great King's Wife after the death of her mother, though it is equally likely that Iset-Nofret took up that position.However, Iset Nofret would have soon died, and there seems to have been few choice for Great King's Wife afterwards, and for some years.

But by Year 35 of Ramesses II's reign, having been twice widow and with three of his daughters serving as queen, he could not resist the daughter of the Hittite king who was offered to him, along with a larger dowry. The arrangements for this marriage seem to have been considerably complex, taking some time in the making. However, eventually the Hittite princess was received at Pi-Ramesses, Ramesses II's new capital, and accordingly was "beautiful in the heart of his majesty, and he loved her more than anything". Her Egyptian name was Maathorneferure, meaning the "One who sees Horus, the Visible Splendor of Re", and she was immediately promoted to the role of "principal wife", which was an unusual honor for a foreign born queen.
However, by this time in Ramesses II's life, the position of :"Chief King's Wife" seems to have deteriorated to some extent. Certainly Maathorneferure soon started to appear on royal monuments as the Egyptian queen, but this seems to have been somewhat of an illusion. Perhaps she, being a foreign born princess, would have been completely ignorant of Egypt's ceremonial and ritual celebrations, for it was Bintanath and her half-sisters, first Meritamen and then Nebettawi, who continued to function as principal wives.
We know that Maathorneferure lived for some time at Pi-Ramesse, and we even know that she bore at least one child, a daughter, by Ramesses II. However, she soon disappeared from the royal records. Perhaps the most logical explanation is simply that she died young. This seems to have created no ill will between the Hittite and Egyptian royal courts for some ten years later, Hattusilis, the Hittite king, apparently agreed to supply Ramesses II with a second princes. The Egyptians recorded this event, saying:
The Great Ruler of Hatti, sent the rich and massive spoils of Hatti...to the King of South and North Egypt, Usermaatre Setepenre (Ramesses II), Son of Re Ramesses II, and likewise many droves of horses, many herds of cattle, many flocks of goats, and many droves of game, before his other daughter whom he sent to the King of South and North Egypt on what was the second such occasion."
The second bride is unknown to us, as well as her fate, but she would have probably been the last of Ramesses II's inner circle of consorts and ladies.

Ramesses II: Anatomy of a Pharaoh An Introduction

Ramesses II: Anatomy of a Pharaoh An Introduction by Jimmy Dunn This is the first part of a series of articles on Ramesses II, perhaps even better known as Ramesses the Great, the third ruler of Egypt's 19th Dynasty during the prosperous New Kingdom. Future parts of this series will explore this great Egyptian Pharaoh as a builder, husband and father, military leader and deity, among other topics. While Ramesses II was certainly not a typical Egyptian pharaoh, far various reasons we know a great deal about him, and exploring his life in detail should provide readers with a better understanding of all the rulers of ancient Egypt. In his book, "Chronicle of the Pharaohs" by Peter A. Clayton, he sums up Ramesses II very nicely, stating that: "During his long reign of 67 years, everything was done on a grand scale. No other pharaoh constructed so many temples or erected so many colossal statues and obelisks. No other pharaoh sired so many children. Ramesses' 'victory' over the Hittities at Kadesh was celebrated in one of the most repeated Egyptian texts ever put on record. By the time he died, aged more than 90, he had set his stamp indelibly on the face of Egypt." Ramesses II's father was Seti (Sethos) I and his mother was Tuya. Tuya was not one of Seti I's major wives, and therefore Ramesses II was probably not given the training of a king from an early age (or as Ramesses II states, "from the egg"). However, he did serve as a co-regent with his father prior to Seti I's death. We believe that Ramesses II had as many as fifty sons and fifty daughters, though only a few of them are known to us. His chief, and most likely favorite wife was Nefertari, though he obviously had many others. We believe he was succeeded by a son named Merneptah who was an old man himself by the time he ascended the throne. It is difficult to tell from most of Ramesses II's statues and depictions on monuments exactly what he looked like physically. This is because the ancient Egyptian artists were not always intend on portraying the king in a totally realistic manner. The king probably never set for specific statues. Rather, they were based upon approved models. Hence, the official image of Ramesses II promoted by the royal artists is not unlike the ageless portraits we find of the British monarch on stamps or American presidents on currency. His images depict him as a traditional king: tall, dignified, physically perfect and forever young, which prompted one modern scholar to comment that: "Now Ramesses the Great, if he was as much like his portraits as his portraits are like each other, must have been one of the most handsomest men, not only of his day, but of all history." His many statues and reliefs show his physical characteristics to include a prominent nose set in a rounded face with high cheek bones, wide, arched eyebrows, slightly bulging, almond-shaped eyes, fleshy lips and a small, square chin. He is often portrayed with a regal smile. Of course, we have a better idea of his looks as an old man from his mummy, which has a very prominent, long, thin, hooked nose set in a long, narrow, oval face with a strong jaw. He was large for an ancient Egyptian, standing some five foot seven inches (1.333 meters) tall, and it has been suggested that he shows many Asiatic traits, which might also be recognizable in the mummies of Seti I and Merenptah. Interestingly, the mummy's gray hair had been died red, and indeed, modern technology has proven that in his youth he was a red head, which was also not a common trait of ancient Egyptians. Due to a fortunate combination of circumstances, including optimal Nile floods resulting in good harvests, international stability, a large family and of course, the extraordinary longevity which caused Ramesses to outlive not only his contemporaries, but many of his children and grandchildren, Egypt enjoyed a continuity of government that was the envy of the ancient world. Whether by luck, or good kingship, Egypt flourished under Ramesses II and her people were grateful. Within his lifetime, Ramesses II was venerated as a god, particularly in Nubia. This cult following continued to flourish, even after the end of Egypt's pharaonic period. Unlike many Egyptian kings, who always sought to have their name remembered and repeated so that their soul could live on, the Egyptians continued to make pilgrimages to Abydos, Memphis, Tanis and Abu Simbel in order to make offerings to Ramesses the deity for centuries after his death. During the Graeco-Roman period, in order to elevate the status of a god named Khons, the priests literally rewrote their mythology to allow Ramesses II a starring role alongside the deity. Ramesses II's reputation resulted in an amazing following, and even a period of Egyptian history we often refer to as the Ramesside period. During the 20th Dynasty, though not descendents, all but one of the kings took the name Ramesses in their efforts to emulate him. Unfortunately, only one of the kings, Ramesses III, would come anywhere close to Ramesses II's achievements, and in the end, this much weakened era would spell the end of the New Kingdom. Later still, the weak dynasty of Tanite kings who only had a tenuous grip on Upper Egypt also attempted to recapture some of the lost brilliance of Egypt's golden age by choosing to use Ramesses II's throne name, Usermaatre, as their own. Hence, Ramesses II's name lived on. In 1822, when we first began to decipher the ancient Egyptian language, many new pharaohs became known to us, and later, as new tombs were discovered, along with other documents, we began to piece together a long line of rulers. Only then did we know the names of Egyptian kings and queens such as Hatshepsut, Akhenaten and Tutankhamun. However, Ramesses II was never in need of rediscovery, for his name, perhaps corrupted somewhat, was not forgotten. Even in our modern world, he has also been remembered, though often not very realistically. He was the handsome, courageous and good hearted king of Christian Jacq's Egyptian novels, and a more lonely, complicated man in Anne Rice's "The Mummy". On the silver screen, he was introduced in the 1909 film, "Mummy of the King Ramses, and in 1923, became the great pharaoh of Cecil B DeMille's silent screen epic, "The Ten Commandments". Afterwards, Yul Brynner would become Ramesses in DeMille's more famous 1956 movie by the same name, and just recently, he was not very accurately portrayed in the DreamWorks animated interpretation of the Exodus called the "Prince of Egypt". The great king was given the birth name of his grandfather, Re-mise, or Ramesses I (meryamun), which means, "Re has Fashioned Him, Beloved of Amun". We often find his birth name spelled as Ramses. His throne name was Usermaatre Setepenre, meaning, "The Justice of Re is Powerful, Chosen of Re". We may find many variations of his name throughout classical history. Ramesses fame was not limited to Egypt, for he was known throughout the ancient classical world, due perhaps to a highly efficient royal propaganda machine. From the Christian bible we hear of both Ramesses, as well as his capital city of Pi-Ramesses. Manetho, a famous ancient Egyptian historian, included Ramesses II in his Egyptian chronology as Ramesses Miamun, or Rapsakes. The Greek historian, Herodotus, refers to him as King Rhampsinitus. Writing in 60 BC, Diodorus Siculus, who was especially impressed by the monument we today call the Ramesseum, the mortuary temple of Ramesses II on the West Bank at Thebes, knew him as Ozymandias, which is an obvious corruption of the king's pre-noimen, Usermaatre. Pliny and Tacitus would later write about him, calling him King Rhamsesis or Rhamses, and two thousand years later, in 1817, Percy Bysshe Shelley published Ozymandias, a poem giving his impression of the once mighty Ramesses: I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And Wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed: And on the pedestal these words appear: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!" Nothing besides remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away. In fact, prior to our modern discipline of Egyptology, the Pharaoh Ramesses II became legendary becoming a fabled king not unlike England's (Celtic) King Arthur. Like that king, an ill defined combination of real kings grew about his person, combining perhaps the deeds of the 12th Dynasty Kings Senusret I and III with those of Ramesses II under the general umbrella of Sesothes. Yet, it was not until after Jean Francois Champollion decoded the Hieroglyphics of the Rosetta Stone that the immensity of Ramesses II's monumental building works could be appreciated by modern observers. Now, the real king became famous all over again, and not only among Egyptologists, though they certainly began to study Ramesses the Great with a new fervor. Because of the number of his monuments, he seems to have constantly been in the news, as discovery after discovery turned up bearing his name. Early on, he received considerable bad press from scholars. For example, Bansen regarded him as: "...an unbridled despot, who took advantage of a reign of almost unparalleled length, and of the acquisitions of his father and ancestors, in order to torment his own subjects and strangers to the utmost of his power." Even in 1959, William C. Hayes said that he was: "a brash young man...not overburdened with intelligence and singularly lacking in taste... [yet with] tremendous energy and personal magnetism." Others only gave him slightly better marks. Miss Amelia B. Edwards, in her travel guide, "A Thousand Miles up the Nile", that: "...it is safe to conclude that he was neither better nor worse than the general run of Oriental despots - that he was ruthless in war, prodigal in peace, rapacious in booty, and unsparing in the exercise of almost boundless power. Such pride and such despotism were, however, in strict accordance with immemorial precedent, and with the temper of the age in which he lived." Essentially, Kenneth Kitchen, a more modern observer, seems to back Edwards comments, saying that: "The deeds and attitudes of a Ramesses II cannot just be crudely measured-off against our own supposed social values, as simply boastful or megalomania; they must be compared with what were the norms and ideas in his culture, not ours." Modern thought on Ramesses undulates from scholar to scholar, and depending on what role is discussed. However, somewhat of a consensus among Egyptologists seems to be that Ramesses II simply did what Egyptian pharaohs were suppose to do, though he had a longer period of time than average to do so. Essentially, Ramesses II is believed to have been a very traditional king in many respects, who followed in the footsteps of his predecessors. Ideally, an Egyptian pharaoh was simply a link in a long chain of custodians who's ill defined but well understood role passed from king to king. He was the mortal link with the gods upon who's shoulders rested the responsibility of maintaining Ma'at in Egypt, and to some extent throughout the known world. Ma'at might be defined as "truth", but might be better explained as a continuity of "rightness" which could insure that things would continue to function normally. If Ma'at were in balance, there would be reasonable Nile inundations (floods) which would nourish the soil and produce good harvests, victory in battle and there would not be illness in the land. Ma'at was mostly obtained by pleasing the gods, which involved supporting their cults as well as following a righteous path. And among other requirements such as making offerings, participating in festivals and protecting the sacred land of Egypt, pleasing the gods often involved building temples and supporting their priesthood. Of course, there would be little need for a king to actually promote himself in order to fulfill these duties. Yet, despite the belief by the ancient Egyptians that the King was at least semi-divine, they were, as we now know, all too human. Almost every Egyptian pharaoh seems to have felt a need to prove himself to his people (as well as to the gods). In fact, they wanted to prove themselves superior to their predecessors, and yet, at the same time, many of these kings actually suffered considerable self doubt, particularly when they were not born to a long dynasty of kings and also not to a "Great Wife" of the king, as was the case with Ramesses II. Therefore, they exerted considerable efforts to build monuments and grand statues in order to re-enforce their role as a living god, as well as to defeat the enemies of Egypt in battle and in each case, they ensured that their name and titles were celebrated in connection with these deeds. Furthermore, they often exaggerated every possible deed, even to the point of fabricating war victories and usurping the monuments and statues of their predecessors. Ramesses II was not the first, nor the last to follow such practices. He was certainly an avid builder, erecting temples and statues from one end of the Nile Valley to the other. And even when he may have failed in war, he nevertheless made it a victory by inscribing it as such on his monuments. So in reality, regardless of our modern misgivings about Ramesses II, as a king of Egypt's New Kingdom, Ramesses fulfilled his functions, as he was basically expected to, and in return, Ma'at seems, at least to his ancient Egyptian subjects, to have been fulfilled, for the country experienced a long period of prosperity during his equally long reign.

Deir el-Medina By Marie Parsons Deir el-Medina, like Kahun and the town being uncovered at Giza, is a community of workmen and their families, supervisors and foremen and their families, all dedicated to building the great tombs of the Egyptian Kings. The image of hundreds, perhaps thousands of toiling slaves, whipped by overseers, seems seared into the modern consciousness, and "everyone" is convinced that the despots who ruled Egypt with iron greedy fists must have built their wealth and glory on the bleeding backs of this tortured labor. Nothing can be farther from truth (except perhaps that aliens in space ships pressed a button and built the Giza complex, and other great monuments.) The more work being done on these villages sounds a clear message that, while they worked hard, these villages were made up of mostly free and willing citizens, doing their part to ensure the afterlife of their King. The Giza town dates from the Old Kingdom, Kahun from the Middle Kingdom, and Deir el-Medina from the New Kingdom. In each, we can see the daily lives and some of the larger politics that fascinate us so about Egypt. Deir el-Medina, which in Arabic means "monastery of the city", was called Pa-demi by the workmen, simply, "the town," though it was also called Set Maa, "the place of truth." is one of the most well-preserved ancient settlements in all Egypt. It lies near Thebes and was a highly skilled community of craftsmen who passed their expertise on from father to son. The community included the workmen and their wives, children and other dependents, as well as coppersmiths, carpenters, potters, basket-makers, and a part-time physician. The workers belonged to what we today would call the middle class, having no royal or noble connections, and much of their work was unglamorous. These workers cut and prepared the tombs in the Valley of the Kings and in the Valley of the Queens, both on the West Bank at Thebes, and were administered directly by the vizier. They were better educated and better paid than the vast majority of their contemporaries elsewhere in Egypt. A number of the inhabitants augmented their income by producing furniture and funerary items for surrounding communities, and so they bought and sold in the west Theban markets, intermarried with the Theban population, and visited the Theban temples. The village was located southeast of the Valley, on the Nile side of the western mountains, in a barren, waterless pocket in the hills. One hundred or more individuals including children lived in the community, and more than 30 foreign names have been identified there. In addition to the names of the viziers and other high officials who oversaw from Thebes, the names, families, and other details of the workmen’s lives are known. The site has yielded a wealth of textual material providing information about the way these people lived, their marriages, inheritances, divorces, how they sought legal redress, advice from the gods. In addition to papyri, large flakes of limestone were used by scribes as note pads. Thousands of these ostraca were found inscribed with letters, notes, records, and many other kinds of evidence concerning the lives of the men and their families, most dating from the 19th and 20th Dynasties. For much of the time Deir el-Medina was a community of women. They were entrusted with many responsibilities of their own, and in one case a foreman’s wife paid out the workmen’s wages in her husband’s absence. Many of the wives may have been literate, since messages were sent to them at times, when it is doubtful that scribes were present, who might have translated the messages. Many of the women also held religious titles such as chantress, singer or priestess, including duties in major temple cults outside the village. There are stelae showing women making offerings venerating their ancestors. At least one example is recorded of the wife of a scribe who willed distribution of goods from her estate to her sons, indicating that women had legal rights. The Town At its height, Deir el-Medina comprised an area with seventy homes within, another 40-50 outside the wall. The original village was bisected by one main street which ran from north to south, but a few side alleys were created when the village was expanded. Outside the north gate lay the community well, filled by water-carriers from the Nile. The entrance to the town was at the north. The houses were lined up along either side of the main street, and each opened directly on to it. The original houses were of mud-brick and had no foundations. Later houses were single-story, built on rubble with basements of stone or brick. An average house consisted of four rooms. The chief feature of the entrance hall was a large brick structure in one corner. It was approached by a flight of stairs. The block was topped by a brick superstructure rising almost to the ceiling so that it resembled a large canopied four-poster brick bed. The exterior of the block could be plain or decorated in frescoes. The most common decoration depicts the god Bes, deity associated with childbirth. It has been assumed that the brick bed was used for childbearing, but it may also have been merely an altar. This room also contained niches for offering-tables, stelae or ancestral busts and may have been an informal chapel for the family. The second room was loftier than the first. Its main feature was a low platform of mud-brick with higher projecting sides at each end, with the top being plastered and whitewashed. It served as a seating area by day and bed at night. The room also contained a false-door stela dedicated to a favored deity, and there might be more niches for shrines or stelae. Underneath the platform might be a small cellar to store household goods. Child burials have been discovered under some of these rooms. The room was lit by windows set high in the walls. Off this main living-room were one or two small rooms which may have served as store-rooms, work areas and sleeping quarters for the females of the household. At the back of the house was a walled open area serving as the kitchen, where grain was ground into flour to be baked into bread. The Workers The workmen were called ‘Servants of the Place of Truth’, since the ancient name of the site was Set Maat, the Place of Truth. They were known collectively as men of the gang, and divided into two gangs or iswt, Left side and Right side. This term was taken from the personnel manning a boat, and here meant perhaps depending which side of the tomb on which they worked. The term iswt signified a military-style unit working under a foreman who controlled the everyday tomb-building activity. Several scribes were in attendance to record the work that took place, worker’s absences, payments, supplies received, etc. In the middle of the reign of Ramesses II there were at least 48 men, but by the end of the reign that number was down to 32, perhaps because the tomb had been completed. In the reign of Ramesses III, 40 men were named, but in the reign of his successor Ramesses IV the gang was expanded to 120 men. But Ramesses IV ruled only 6 years and the gang was cut back to 60. Each gang consisted of stone-masons, carpenters, chief carpenters, sculptors, and draughtsmen. They were controlled by two foremen, each known as the ‘overseer of construction in the Great place’ in the 18th Dynasty, and then just the ‘chief of the gang in the Place of Truth.’ The stonecutters excavated the royal tombs in the soft limestone hills, sometimes hundred of feet into the cliffs or the valley floors. The draftsmen guided the decorations by laying out the designs and enlarged them from gridline drawings to fit the available space, checking and frequently correcting those guidelines. The painters had a wide variety of pigments available, enabling them to brush remarkable detail into the figures. The foremen and scribes constituted the leaders of the village, between the inhabitants and the higher authorities, including vizier and overseer of the treasury. They oversaw the removal of material from the royal storehouses for use in constructing the tomb, received and distributed the wages among the workers, sat as chief magistrates on the local court and acted as chief witnesses for oaths. They also recommended candidates for replacements in the work-force, which could sometimes be swayed by bribery. Other positions in the village were the ‘guardians of the Tomb’ who controlled the royal storehouses where the tools and other constructions materials were kept. They handed the materials over under the supervision of the foremen and scribes. The ‘door-keeper’ of the Tomb guarded the entrance to the royal tomb, acted as bailiffs and debt-collectors. There were the police, or Medjay, stationed on the west bank to prevent unauthorized entry to the tombs. They were directly under the authority of the mayor of Thebes-West. The police chief sat in as a member of the community courts. There were ‘servants of the Tomb’ , wood-cutters, water-carriers, fishermen, gardeners, washermen, and at times, potters. They were under the direct control of the scribes and door-keepers. They worked for the workmen, but could rise to become full-fledged workmen. Women servants ground into flour the grain supplied by the authorities. Because currency did not exist in ancient Egypt the workmen were paid in kind. The chief payment consisted of monthly rations of emmer wheat, for flour, and barley, for making beer. The foremen and scribes received a higher salary than the ordinary workmen. Apart from the grain, the workers were given fish, vegetables and water, wood for fuel and pottery. There were also more irregular deliveries of dates, cakes and ready-made beer. Bonuses were issued on festival days or other special reasons. These bonuses might include extra provisions of normal supplies but also sesame oil, blocks of salt and natron, and meat. The workers supplemented their government income by making their own funerary equipment, including coffins, boxes and other items. They paid each other for various items of manufacture, and the scribes charged for painting the required inscriptions. The craftsmen also accepted outside commissions, so that much of the furniture used in private burials at Thebes was made at Deir el-Medina. The Beginnings Deir el-Medina was founded sometime in the 18th Dynasty. Amenhotep I, c 1527-1506 BCE, may have been the ruler who first formed the corps of workmen who would soon become hereditary tomb-builders. He was the first ruler to build his tomb separately from his mortuary temple. He and his mother Ahmose-Nefertari were worshipped as patrons by the royal workmen in later times. Under the reign of Tuthmosis I, 1506-1493 BCE, a wall of bricks stamped with his name was erected around the village, confirming that the community definitely existed at that time. Tuthmosis I himself is buried in the Valley of the Kings. At this time, the 18th Dynasty, the construction of his tomb was supervised by the overseer of construction at Karnak, who had also been involved in the erection of the two obelisks of Tuthmosis I at Karnak. Later on, the workmen came under the direct authority of the Vizier. The chief evidence from the 18th Dynasty consists of the few tombs of this period, together with some pit-burials and a few stelae. The most important of the tombs is that of the foreman Kha, who died during the reign of Amenhotep III, 1390-1352 BCE. The sarcophagus and coffin of Kha’s wife Meryt lay nearby. Their funerary equipment included ear-rings, gold collar and bracelets, a girdle composed of gold plaques and faience beads, a fine wooden statue of the deceased with garland, alabaster and pottery vases, bronze vases, tools, shabtis in their box, furniture including two beds and stools, ten wooden boxes, a wig, gameboard, linen and an especially fine papyrus. During the Amarna period, the tombs of Akhenaten and his family were constructed by workers who lived at the village of el-Amarna. It is quite probable that while Deir el-Medina remained inhabited at this time, it did not serve as the official community for the royal workmen. By year 7 if the reign of Horemheb, c 1317 BCE, Deir el Medina once again was inhabited by the royal workmen. In that year, tracts of land including deserted tombs, were assigned to members of the community by the chief steward of Thebes. There is little more detailed information about the village until the reign of Seti I, c 1294-1279 BCE, early in the 19th Dynasty, by which time the community must have been well established. The People Since the reigns of Ramesses II and his successors there comes a wealth of evidence in the form of ostraca, papyri, stelae and tomb inscriptions, which tell the names of the workmen and their wives and children, even the houses of individual families. At the beginning of the 19th Dynasty, one of the foremen was named Kaha, son of a chief carpenter and possibly son-in-law of the preceding foreman. Kaha and his family held on to the post with minor interruptions until the end of the 20th Dynasty. The other gang’s foreman was Neferhotep, when the available records began, and he held the post under Horemheb, Seti I, and Ramesses II. He was succeeded by his son Nebnufer, who in turn was succeeded by his son, Neferhotep the younger, who held office for the last half of the reign of Ramesses II, through the reign of Merneptah, and into the reign of Seti II. The tomb of Neferhotep is by far the largest and most splendid in the workmen’s necropolis. It was Neferhotep who adopted Paneb, mentioned earlier who was even accused of trying to kill Neferhotep. Neferhotep was not killed by his protégé; his brother Amennakhte reported that ‘the enemy killed Neferhotep.’ It is felt certain that this phrase refers to a civil war which broke out in Egypt between Pharaoh Seti II and the usurper Amenmesse, who controlled Thebes for several years. Neferhotep seems to have been killed just before Thebes fell to the forces of Seti II. Paneb bribed the vizier of Seti II to win the succeeding appointment as foreman, but he eventually met justice, at which point foreman of the right was filled by the family of Nekhemmut, and it remained there for most of the 20th Dynasty. Scribes and Literature Each gang had its own scribe, appointed directly by the vizier. The scribe’s chief duty was to keep a register of work done and to note any absentee workers. He also recorded the removal of material from royal store-rooms, and the payments of the workmen’s wages. One notable scribe was Ramose, appointed in year 5 of Rameses I, and was still in the post in year 38. Ramose has left a large number of stelae and other monuments, including three tombs, one of which was used by his female dependents. He owned slaves and farm land, and is frequently depicted in tombs of his fellow workers. He and his wife Mutemwia were childless, and he is shown on two stelae praying to the deities of childbirth and fertility, even dedicating a stone phallus to Hathor. Ramose was succeeded as scribe by Kenherkhepeshef, who held the office until the end of the reign of Seti II. He had two accusations of bribery against him, and is recorded as using men of the gang to do private work for him during official working hours. The draughtsman Parahotpe complained bitterly, saying "what does his bad way mean in which you behave to me. If there is some beer, you do not look for me, but if there is work, you do look for me…" The villagers had a level of literacy, and fragments of now familiar texts have been found. The text of Hordjedef son of Khufu is known solely from having been discovered at Deir el-Medina. The most frequent work found on ostraca from the site is the famous Satire on Trades by Khety. He was also the ghost-writer of the Instructions of King Amenemhat I, composed after the king’s assassination in 1962 BCE. This piece is the second most popular text found in the village. Until recently, papyri and ostraca from the community were the sole evidence for the Maxims of Any dated from the 18th Dynasty, but a copy turned up at Saqqara as well. Several popular stories were also found at Deir el-Medina. One of the best known is the tale of Sinuhe, the political refugee in Palestine during the reign of Senusret I. Other tales include the allegorical tale Blinding of Truth by Falsehood, of which only one incomplete copy from Deir el-Medina survives, and still others concern the activities of the gods, such as the adventures of Set and Anat, and a complete papyrus of the Contendings of Horus and Set. Fragments of the private library of Kenherkhepeshef have been found, including a dream book giving the interpretation of various dreams. Some examples are: If a man sees himself in a dream, looking out of a window, good, it means the hearing of his cry by his god. If a man sees himself in a dream, drinking a warm beer, bad, it means suffering will come upon him On the back of the dream book, Kenherkhepeshef, copied out in his own hand parts of the victory hymn of Rameses II about the battle of Qadesh, and he also recorded one of his reports to the vizier on the progress of work on the royal tomb. The Tomb Worker’s Strike The ostraca, papyri, and the other evidences show that life millennia ago in a country far away in often more ways than mere time and distance, really was not all that different from what we know today. People knew what they wanted, what they were owed, what they loved and what they disliked. The following two sections illustrate this very well. During the reign of Ramesses III, construction at Thebes apparently severely depleted the grain reserves used to pay the workmen of the royal necropolis. The administrators were also corrupt, reducing the grain rations intolerably. A letter sent by the scribe Neferhotep around Ramesses' 25th regnal year states, "On and a half khar of gran (about 168 lbs) have been taken from us….we are dying, we cannot live…" The workmen then went on strike, in possibly the world’s first labor dispute. On the 21st day of the second month, in Ramesses’ 29th year, the scribe Amennakhte personally delivered a formal complaint about this situation to the Temple of Horemheb, part of the large administrative complex of Medinet Habu. Although a payment was forthcoming soon after, the poor conditions continued and in the sixth month of that year, the men of the two gangs stopped worked and marched together to one of the royal mortuary temples, perhaps Tuthmosis III, where they staged what would now be called a sit-in. They repeated this on the following day within the complex of another temple, possibly Ramesses II, and possibly a third, that of Seti I, until the men’s complaints were recorded by the priests and sent across the river to Thebes. Only then were the rations owed finally distributed, but the events of this strike would be repeated before the reign of Ramesses III ended. Even in subsequent reigns the workers had to take action to receive any payments. In the reign of Ramesses XI, the scribe Dhutmose traveled south of Thebes to collect the grain from local temples and farmers for the community, taking along two door-keepers for protection Justice The village possessed its own court, known as the kenbet, composed of the foremen, deputies and scribes, plus certain villagers who may have been included because of their seniority or esteem. Its sessions may have taken place in the evenings or on rest days, and it had power to settle all civil action and to decide minor criminal matters. Major cases involving capital offences would be referred to the vizier’s court at Thebes. The bulk of the cases seem to have involved disputes over non-payment for goods and services. The community seemed to enjoy a good court case, as it could serve to be somewhat diverting from the normal routine, and went to court apparently over what could seem to be trivial matters. Each man or woman conducted his or her own case, so lawyer’s fees were not required. One action, which may not have been typical, was in the 17th year of the reign of Ramesses III, and was an attempt by workman Menna to recover payment owed him for a pot of fat he had sold on credit. He was not at all deterred by the fact that the defaulter was the chief of police, Mentmose! Mentmose had promised to pay for the pot with barley, but when he defaulted, Menna reported him three times before the scribe of the Tomb, and finally in the third year, second month, of Ramesses IV, eighteen years later, Menna reported him once more. Mentmose swore to pay before the next month or receive 100 blows of a stick and perhaps pay double. Menna also apparently sued Mentmose over the course of eleven years at another time over non-payment of some articles of clothing. In year 28 of the reign of Ramesses III, Menna also sued the water-carrier Tcha for selling him a defective donkey. Even if one was the winner in court, the debtor still had to be forced to make payment. The case of Mentmose certainly indicates that payment could be withheld for a long time. The doorkeepers of the Tomb were employed to exact payments due, but in at least one recorded case, the enraged debtor turned on the bailiff and give him the thrashing and never made his payment. If the loser disagreed with the court’s decision or preferred not to trust in the human judges, one could also appeal to the gods. The deified Amenhotep I could be asked to render an oracular verdict on any claims submitted to him. Deeds of gift or divisions of property were also registered with the court, as shown in the case of the lady Naunakhte. She laid down the division of her property and her husband and children swore to abide by her wishes. The proceedings were then recorded on papyrus and probably kept by the interested parties. The court also dealt with theft. In year 6 of the reign of Seti II, c 1197 BCE, the workman Nebnufer son of Nakhy appeared before the court and accused the lady Heria of stealing a valuable tool which he had buried in his house. The court then asked the lady Heria if she had stolen the tool and she said no. She was then asked if she could and would swear by the Lord about the tool that she did not steal it. Heria immediately took the oath in the name of the god Amun. However, that all seemed insufficient. The court sent a workman to search her house. He discovered not only the tool but ritual equipment stolen from the local temple. Lady Heria was thus found guilty not only of theft, but of blasphemy and perjury as well. She was declared worthy of death, and remitted to the vizier for final judgment. Unfortunately there is no final record of her actual fate. There was a previous case of blasphemy the year before this. The foreman Hay was brought before the tribunal, and four villagers attested that Hay had pronounced insults against Seti II, the current ruling Pharaoh. An attack on the person of the Pharaoh, even verbally, was considered of course sacrilege. Pharaoh was the living personification of Horus, the King-Priest of the unified Two Lands. At this time, Seti II had just recently regained power in Thebes after a civil disturbance. Hay’s defense was that he was actually sound asleep at the alleged time of the incidents. The accusers then became mysteriously silent when the court inquired into the nature of the alleged insults, and they were required to swear that in fact they were hiding nothing and had heard nothing against Pharaoh. They were then each sentenced to receive a hundred blows each for bearing false witness. One interesting note however is that this tribunal was presided over by Paneb, who was mentioned earlier. Paneb and Hay were rivals, and Paneb had even been reported to have threatened to kill Hay, just as he had threatened his adopted father. A petition was drawn up at the end of the 19th Dynasty, now called the Salt papyrus. The petition was direct to the vizier, drawn up by the workman Amennakhte, son of the chief workman Nebnufer, brother of the foreman Neferhotep. It is in this papyrus that we read "the enemy killed Neferhotep," and further accused Paneb of bribing the current vizier to win appointment as foreman. Although Amennakhte later admits that Paneb may have had a strong claim to the appointment, having been the adopted son of Neferhotep, he lists a number of other charges against Paneb: that Paneb stole the things of King Seti Merenptah, that he went to the burial of Queen Henutmire and took away a model of a goose, later found in his house; that he stole tools; had an illicit affair with the lady wife of the workman Kenna and two other married ladies, as well as the daughter of one of them, and ordered royal workmen to do work for him. The charge of the misuse of government employees for private work can be confirmed from surviving records. At the same time, workmen were absent on tasks for the other foreman and even the vizier. In any event, a trial was held and Paneb was removed from office and he disappears from further records in the community. The End During the course of the 20tt Dynasty the control of the central government slackened and payments to the workers became more erratic. Libyan raiders attacked the Theban area. The tomb of Ramesses VI was violated by a gang that had robbed an unnamed tomb earlier. In the course of the reign of Ramesses IX, an organized gang looted various tombs in the Valley of Kings and Queens. The mayors of both Thebes-East and Thebes-West charged each other with either taking stronger measures or incompetence at being unable to stop the gang. As investigations went on and on, senior workmen in the village and deputies were implicated and arrested, and now, instead of appointments passing from father to son, the foremen came from the ranks of the ordinary workmen. Civil war raged through the Theban area at least twice a decade over the next few ears. The village was eventually abandoned and its inhabitants sought refuge behind the mortuary temple walls at Medinet Habu, but the temple was stormed, looted and refugees enslaved. Workers were conscripted to serve in the Nubian campaigns, The royal tombs may again have been desecrated and looted again in the 18th year of Ramesses XI, about 1081 BCE. There can be no doubt that some of the former villagers took advantage of this chaos and looted tombs in the Valley of the Queens. The next year order was again restored, and thirteen men identified as being tomb robbers, including one workman of the community. The surviving workers, under orders from the high priest of Amun, now the virtual rulers of the Thebes area, gathered the royal mummies and their funerary equipment and reburied them in two secret caches, after repairing the bodies. One cache was near Deir el-Bahri. After Ramesses XI there were no more royal tombs at Thebes. The succeeding Kings were buried at Tanis in the Delta. Deir el-Medina was only occasionally visited by its former inhabitants, probably frequenting the temples when conditions permitted. During the Ptolemaic (Greek) Period a temple dedicated to Hathor and Maat was built in the valley by Ptolemy Ptolemy VI, on the site of earlier temples. A large cache of demotic papyri was found dating from 188 to 101 BCE, which reflect the lives of the priests who served here. Deir el-Medina and its people may be "dead" but its voices have chosen to live on and on. See Also The Necropolis of Deir el-Medina The Temples of Deir el-Medina Sources: The Complete Valley of the Kings by Nicholas Reeves and Richard H. Wilkinson The Tomb-Builders of the Pharaohs by Morris Bierbrier Pharaoh’s Workers ed. by Leonard H. Lesko Thebes in Egypt by Nigel & Helen Strudwick Marie Parsons is an ardent student of Egyptian archaeology, ancient history and its religion. To learn about the earliest civilization is to learn about ourselves.

Medinet Habu By Marie Parsons The ancient Egyptian name for Medinet Habu, in Arabic the "City of Habu" was Djamet, meaning "males and mothers." Its holy ground was believed to be where the Ogdoad, the four pairs of first primeval gods, were buried. Medinet Habu was both a temple and a complex of temples dating from the New Kingdom. It adjoins the cultivation at the southern end of the Theban necropolis, opposite southern Luxor. The area was one of the earliest places within the Theban region to be associated with the worship of Amun. Hatshepsut and Tutmosis III built a small temple to Amun on the site of an earlier structure. Next to their temple, Ramesses III built his mortuary temple, Medinet Habu’s most conspicuous standing monument. Ramesses III then enclosed both structures within a massive mud-brick enclosure that included storehouses, workshops, administrative offices, and residences of priests and officials. On the grounds of the entire temple complex, however, are numerous other structures besides the small temple. There are the memorial chapels of the Divine Adoratrices of Amun. Less well preserved is the memorial temple of King Horemheb, which he usurped from his predecessor Ay, that stands on the north side of the Ramesses III enclosure. To its east are a number of tomb chapels made for high officials of the later new Kingdom. The main temple is the great memorial temple of Ramesses III, the best preserved of all mortuary temples of Thebes. It is called the Mansion of Millions of Years of User-Maat-Re Meriamun, the throne name of Ramesses III, "United with Eternity in the Possession of Amun in Western Thebes." It contains more than 75,350 sq ft of decorated surfaces across its walls The temple precinct measures about 700 feet by 1000 feet and was entered by two stone gates in the mud-brick enclosure wall on both the eastern and western sides. The western gate was destroyed when the temple was besieged during conflict in the reign of Ramesses XI. The eastern entrance was fronted by a quay, at which the boats that came in via the canals could moor. The processional way led first between two porters’ lodges that were set into a low stone rampart, built in front of the main enclosure wall, and then into the precinct. The rampart itself was a large gateway of distinctive design modeled after a western Asiatic migdol or fortress. Fronted by guard-houses, the gateway sides are decorated with images of the king trampling enemies of Egypt, and sculpted figures of the monarch standing atop the heads of captives project from the walls. A large relief representation of the god Ptah was here, having the power to transmit the prayers of those unable to enter the temple to the great god Amun within. The upper rooms of the gate-house functioned as a kind of royal retreat or harem, its walls graced with representations of the king relaxing with young women. Perhaps it was here that the attempted assassination of Ramesses III took place. The temple itself is a slightly smaller copy of the Ramesseum built by Ramesses II. Its massive outer pylons are the most imposing of any temple in Egypt, and are decorated with colossal images of the king destroying captured enemies before the gods. The temple’s outer walls also depict important battle and victory scenes over the Libyans and Sea Peoples. These scenes are continued into the first court. On the northern side of this court were large statues of the king as Osiris, and on the south a columned portico with the window of appearances in which the king stood or sat during formal ceremonies and festivities. The large statues of the second court were destroyed in the early Christian era when the area was converted into a church. Relief scenes here still in good condition depict rituals connected with the god Min, and on the rear wall of the portico, a procession of the king’s numerous sons and daughters. The second court is devoted to scenes of religious processions, notably those of Min and Sokar. Despite the generally good state of preservation of the temple, the Hypostyle Hall has suffered greatly, the columns being reduced to a small fraction of their original height. However, in the southwest corner is a treasury building with scenes depicting some of the temple equipment. The weighing of gold, depictions of sacks of gold, and precious stones also appear on the walls. Other temple valuables were probably kept in a better-concealed building immediately in front of the north wall of the sanctuary. Off to the left of the second Hypostyle Hall is the funerary chamber of Ramesses III, with the god Thoth shown inscribing the king’s name on the sacred tree of Heliopolis. The focus of the main axis of the temple is the sanctuary of Amun. It was once finished in electrum with a doorway of gold and the doors themselves of copper inlaid with precious stones. Behind the sanctuary lies a false door for Amun-Ra united with eternity, namely, the divine form of Ramesses III. On the southeastern side of the temple are the remains of a royal palace, which was probably much smaller than the king’s main residence, serving as a spiritual palace as well as the occasional royal visits. It was originally decorated with glazed tiles, and its bathrooms were lined with limestone to protect the mud-brick. From the palace, the king could enter the first court, or peruse it from a window of appearances on its southern side. To the right of the complex entrance stands the earliest section of the complex, the so-called "Small Temple", founded in the 18th Dynasty, and repeatedly expanded and usurped under later dynasties. It stood on one of the most sacred spots in all Egypt, the primeval hill which first rose out of the receding waters of Chaos. An inscription describes it as the burial place of the four primal pairs of gods. The core of this temple was begun by Hatshepsut and Tutmosis III, but her name was later replaced by those of Tutmosis I and II. The structure was incorporated into Ramesses’ temple complex and eclipsed by the construction of the mortuary temple. Its entrance was later replaced by a pylon of the Nubian King Shabaka and then usurped by his nephew Taharqa. A small fronting gateway was built during the 26th Dynasty and usurped during the 29th by Nectanebo I. To the north of this Small Temple are the sacred lake and the so-called Nilometer, which is actually a well with a passage leading down to groundwater level. Inside and to the left of the eastern gateway are a group of chapel-tombs belonging to the 25th and 26th Dynasties’ God’s Wives of Amun. They ruled Upper Egypt nominally at that time. On the lintels above the entrances to these chapels may still be seen the "Appeal to the Living", which encouraged passers-by to repeat the Offering Formula for the kas of these powerful women. Because of its strong fortifications, Medinet Habu became a refuge in chaotic times. The workmen of Deir el-Medina moved there during the late 20th Dynasty, and the remains of the house of one Butehamun, a village scribe, can still be seen there at the western end. During the Christian era, the entire area was covered by the Coptic town of Djeme and even the great temple itself was filled with dwellings and one court used as a church. Sources Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt From the Cultural Atlas of Ancient Egypt by John Baines and Jaromir Malek From the Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt by Richard Wilkinson From Dictionary of Ancient Egypt by Ian Shaw and Paul Nicholson