Ramesses I in Wikipedia
Menpehtyre Ramesses I (traditional English: Ramesses or Ramses) was the founding Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's 19th dynasty.
The dates for his short reign are not completely known but the time-line of late 1292-1290 BC is frequently cited[3] as
well as 1295-1294 BC.[4] While Ramesses I was the founder of the 19th Dynasty, in reality his brief reign marked the
transition between the reign of Horemheb who had stabilised Egypt and the rule of the powerful Pharaohs of this dynasty, in
particular his son Seti I and grandson Ramesses II, who would bring Egypt up to new heights of imperial power.
Origins
Originally called Pa-ra-mes-su, Ramesses I was of non-royal birth, being born into a noble military family from the Nile
delta region, perhaps near the former Hyksos capital of Avaris, or from Tanis. He was a son of a troop commander called
Seti. His uncle Khaemwaset, an army officer married Tamwadjesy, the matron of the Harem of Amun, who was a relative of Huy,
the Viceroy of Kush, an important state post.[5] This shows the high status of Ramesses' family. Ramesses I found favor
with Horemheb, the last pharaoh of the tumultuous Eighteenth dynasty, who appointed the former as his Vizier. Ramesses also
served as the High Priest of Amun[citation needed] – as such, he would have played an important role in the restoration of
the old religion following the Amarna heresy of a generation earlier, under Akhenaten.
Horemheb himself had been a nobleman from outside the immediate royal family, who rose through the ranks of the Egyptian
army to serve as the royal advisor to Tutankhamun and Ay and, ultimately, Pharaoh. Since Horemheb was childless, he
ultimately chose Ramesses to be his heir in the final years of his reign presumably because Ramesses I was both an able
administrator and had a son (Seti I) and a grandson (the future Ramesses II) to succeed him and thus avoid any succession
difficulties!
Upon his accession, Ramesses assumed a prenomen, or royal name, which is written in Egyptian hieroglyphs to the right. When
transliterated, the name is mn-pḥty-r‘, which is usually interpreted as Menpehtyre, meaning "Established by the strength of
Ra". However, he is better known by his nomen, or personal name. This is transliterated as r‘-ms-sw, and is usually
realised as Ramessu or Ramesses, meaning 'Ra bore him'. Already an old man when he was crowned, Ramesses appointed his son,
the later pharaoh Seti I, to serve as the Crown Prince and chosen successor. Seti was charged with undertaking several
military operations during this time– in particular, an attempt to recoup some of Egypt's lost possessions in Syria.
Ramesses appears to have taken charge of domestic matters: most memorably, he completed the second pylon at Karnak Temple,
begun under Horemheb.
Death
Ramesses I enjoyed a very brief reign, as evidenced by the general paucity of contemporary monuments mentioning him: the
king had little time to build any major buildings in his reign and was hurriedly buried in a small and hastily finished
tomb.[6] The Egyptian priest Manetho assigns him a reign of 16 months but this pharaoh certainly ruled Egypt for a minimum
of 17 months based on his highest known date which is a Year 2 II Peret day 20 (Louvre C57) stela which ordered the
provision of new endowments of food and priests for the Temple of Ptah within the Egyptian fortress of Buhen.[7] Jürgen von
Beckerath observes that Ramesses I died just 5 months later-in June 1290 BC-since his son Seti I succeeded to power on III
Shemu day 24.[8] Ramesses I's only known action was to order the provision of endowments for the aforementioned Nubian
temple at Buhen and "the construction of a chapel and a temple (which was to be finished by his son) at Abydos."[9] The
aged Ramesses was buried in the Valley of the Kings. His tomb, discovered by Giovanni Belzoni in 1817 and designated KV16,
is small in size and gives the impression of having been completed with haste. Joyce Tyldesley states that Ramesses I's
tomb consisted of a single corridor and one unfinished room whose
" walls, after a hurried coat of plaster, were painted to show the king with his gods, with Osiris allowed a
prominent position. The red granite sarcophagus too was painted rather than carved with inscriptions which, due to their
hasty preparation, included a number of unfortunate errors."[10] "
Seti I, his son, and successor, later built a small chapel (or temple) with fine reliefs in memory of his deceased father
Ramesses I at Abydos. In 1911, John Pierpont Morgan donated several exquisite reliefs from this chapel to the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York.[11]
Rediscovery and repatriation
According to current theory, his mummy was stolen by the Abu-Rassul family of grave robbers and brought to North America
around 1860 by Dr. James Douglas. It was then placed in the Niagara Museum and Daredevil Hall of Fame in Ontario, Canada.
Ramesses I remained there, his identity unknown, next to other curiosities and so-called freaks of nature for more than 130
years. When the owner of the museum decided to sell his property, Canadian businessman William Jamieson purchased the
contents of the museum. In 1999, Jamieson sold the Egyptian artifacts in the collection, including the various mummies, to
the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia for US $2 million. His identity cannot be conclusively
determined, but is persuasively deduced from CT scans, X-rays, skull measurements and radio-carbon dating tests by
researchers at the University, as well as aesthetic interpretations of family resemblance. Moreover, the mummy's arms were
found crossed high across his chest which was a position reserved solely for Egyptian royalty until 600 BC.[12] His mummy
was returned to Egypt on October 24, 2003 with full official honors and is on display at the Luxor Museum.[13]
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