Egypt 6 - Those Rameses (and others) Quiz

Answer: Seven royal butlers

If you are surprised about the butlers think of Joseph in the Bible. The other judges were two treasury overseers, two army standard bearers, two scribes and a herald. A minor queen called Tiy tried to get her son on the throne. Many of the names of the accused were changed, such as Mesedure which means Re (the sun god) hates him. He is best known for the account of the sea battle in which he repelled the attempt of the sea peoples to settle in Egypt.

His account is the longest known hieroglyphic inscription, however his accounts of campaigns in Syria lists people who no longer existed - he seems to have just copied an account of a campaign by Ramses II, a practice that was not uncommon in Ancient Egypt.

Answer: Three

They were Ramses V, VI and VIII. There seem to have been a lot of other brothers who died young.
A plan of Ramses IV's tomb is preserved in Turin. For years scholars were puzzled by the four boxes round the sarcophagus described as the house of gold until the shrines round the sarcophagus of Tutankhamen were found.
His father produced the longest known hieroglyphic inscription, he produced the longest known papyrus roll - the Great Harris Papyrus which lists temple endowments and then the king's achievements - probably the temple endowments were considered a major achievement. The accumulation of wealth by temples is believed to be a major factor in the decline of Egypt.

Answer: Smallpox

There seems to have been a civil war. The workmen on his tomb were 'idle from fear of the enemy' and he may not have been buried until year two of Ramses VI's reign. (Normally the burial took place after 70 days).
Although it seems society was starting to disintegrate the administration was holding up well enough to produce the unique Wilbour papyrus which gives important details on land holding and taxation along a 140 km length of the Nile in middle Egypt.

Answer: The revelation of widespread robberies of royal tombs

It was found that nine of the ten tombs checked had been robbed. It was recorded that the theft from the 17th dynasty ruler Sobekemsaf and his queen was 160 deben of gold (about 14.5 kg). Compare this with the 18th Dynasty king Tutankhamen whose mask alone weighed 10.2 kg.

Answer: Ramses XI

During the reign of Ramses XI the priests of Amun at Thebes came to be independent rulers although they did not have a numbered dynasty assigned to them by Manetho. It seems Ramses just accepted this. There are documents dated with both rulers' dates such as one dated year two of Herihor and year 25 of Ramses.

Answer: He assumed some but not all attributes of a Pharaoh

He was one of the high priests at Thebes who ruled like a pharaoh. His name appears in a cartouche but he did not use regnal years. He dated his documents with dates of Smendes I who ruled in the delta. He was prominent in the restoration of the robbed royal mummies.

Answer: Five

The tomb contained five chambers. In the first to be entered was a silver falcon-headed coffin of Shoshenq. Some say it was Shoshenq I and some that it was the almost unknown Shoshenq II. Another disagreement between authorities is whether Shoshenq I was the Shishak of the Bible - most people say he was.
There were also the reburied mummies of kings Siamun and Psusennes II. Psusennes I was undisturbed in a silver coffin with a gold mummy-board and a solid gold mask.
Another chamber should have held Psusennes's mother, Queen Mutnodjmet, but her sarcophagus was found to contain the body of king Amenemope, in a coffin of gilded wood despite the fact his empty tomb was found very close.
The next chamber held the empty coffin of a general Ankhefenmut and the final chamber held the undisturbed burial chamber of another general, Wendebauendjed.
The original tomb of Amenemope contained only a beautiful sarcophagus with an inscription recording the king's name.

Answer: 27 February 1939

The splendour of the burials at Tanis are exceeded only by the tomb of Tutankhamen but their impact was reduced because people were distracted by the events leading up to World War II.
This was the first of seven tombs his team found. Because of the high water table in the delta the tomb is more like an Old Kingdom mastaba.
These tombs were used for multiple burials and often were usurped by other rulers. Osorkon's tomb probably belonged originally belonged to Smendes and he shared the chamber with his son Harnakht, a high priest of Amun who had predeceased him.
Takelot I was buried in a Middle Kingdom sarcophagus another chamber of the tomb with some of Osorkon I's burial equipment. Another chamber contained the remains of a reburial of Shoshenq III and there is the possibility that Shoshenq V was also subsequently buried in the tomb.

Answer: A 13th Dynasty lintel

Osorkon II has a sarcophagus lid made from a Rameside statue, and Psusennes I was buried in a sarcophagus that had originally held the new kingdom pharaoh Merenptah. The rich finds show that the rulers of the third intermediate period were stronger than was once thought.

The theory is that the reuse of old materials is not due to poverty but to a desire to be connected to the great rulers of the past.

Answer: Five

Three kings of Dynasty 23 ruled in various places - Iuput ruled in Leontopolis, Peftjaubastet ruled in Herakleopolis and Nimlot in Hermopolis. Another ruler was Osorkon IV of the 22nd Dynasty in Tanis. The confederation was formed by the 24th Dynasty Pharaoh Tefnakht in Sais. The confederation failed but at least four kings were allowed to carry on as governors.
Bakenrenef was the second and last ruler of Dynasty 24. He made it into Greek myth as Bocchoris, who was involved with Hercules.