Ramses III Trivia Quiz

Answer: Setnakhte

Ramses III was the son of Setnakhte, an obscure pharaoh who reigned for only three or four years. Little is known about Setnakhte, but he may have been an usurper, because he does not appear to have been closely related to the two previous rulers. Setnakhte was buried in the Valley of the Kings in the tomb known as KV14, but his mummy was found (along with several other kings) in the tomb of Amenhotep II, where it was presumably moved after his own tomb had been robbed.

Answer: 20th

Ramses III was the greatest ruler of Egypt's 20th dynasty. The 20th dynasty (ca. 1182-1064 BC) ruled over Egypt during a time of serious unrest and gradual disintegration of the social order. Egypt's power declined rapidly during this time, and it was increasingly subject to foreign invasions.

Answer: 1186-1155 BC

There is some dispute over the exact dates of Ramses III's reign. It is, however, generally accepted that he ruled for at least 31 years, and the dates 1186-1155 BC are thought to be accurate within a year or two by most archeologists.

Answer: Famine

Around 1160 BC, Egyptian crops began to fail; it was a problem that would continue for at least 20 years. The first recorded labor strike in history occurred on the 21st day of the second month of the 29th year of Ramses III's reign. The workers on the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings went on strike because they were not being fed.

A papyrus written by the scribe Amennakhte at Deir el Medina has survived and tells the story of the strike: "We are hungry, for 18 days ... the prospect of hunger and thirst has driven us to this; there is no clothing, there is no ointment, there is no fish, there are no vegetables. Send to Pharaoh, our good lord, about it, and send to the vizier, our superior, that we may be supplied with provisions." The Mayor of Thebes sent them what supplies he had, but the strike seems to have lasted for several weeks.

The workers accused corrupt government officials of depriving them of their provisions. There would be other strikes in during the reigns of Ramses III's successors.

Answer: The Sea Peoples

The Sea Peoples seem to have been a loose confederation of several tribes who migrated south and west from Asia Minor and southern Europe. Previous pharaohs had done battle with them, but the invasion force encountered by Ramses III was the largest and most powerful ever seen.

The Egyptians were not great sailors, so instead of fighting the invaders at sea, Ramses III lured them into the Egyptian delta, where his archers killed great numbers of them. He recorded his victory over the Sea Peoples on many monuments: "Those who reached my boundary, their seed is not; their hearts and their souls are finished forever and ever." Some of the Sea Peoples are thought to have settled in Canaan, and one tribe, the Peleset, are thought to be the ancestors of the Biblical Philistines.

Answer: He was murdered

Towards the end of his reign, several members of Ramses III's harem, led by one of his minor wives named Tiye and other high officials, began a conspiracy to kill him and replace him with Tiye's son, Pentaweret. Ramses III was killed, but the conspiracy was discovered, and the guilty parties were punished. Records of the conspirators' trials survive, and make fascinating reading; some of the members of the harem involved even tried to get off by sleeping with judges! At least 38 people were sentenced to death, including Pentaweret, Ramses III's chamberlain, Pebekkamen, seven royal butlers, and various other high officials. Tiye's fate is not known for certain, but she also was likely put to death or committed suicide. An unidentified mummy known as "Unknown Man E," was found in a cache of other royal mummies. It was hastily mummified, placed in an unmarked coffin, and wrapped in a sheepskin, an animal considered unclean by the Egyptians. Many believe this to be Pentaweret.

It was long thought that Ramses III was poisoned, but a recent CAT scan of his mummy reveals a deep gash in his throat, one that was covered by bandages. It is now thought that he died from having his throat slit.

Answer: It is one of the largest in the Valley of the Kings

Because he enjoyed a very long reign of over 30 years, Ramses III had plenty of time to prepare his tomb. It is one of the largest and most beautifully decorated in the Valley of the Kings. Like almost all the royal tombs, it had been plundered in ancient times, but several items of interest were still recovered, including a beautiful red granite sarcophagus which is now in the Louvre; the lid of the sarcophagus had been badly damaged by tomb robbers. The lid is now in the Fitzwilliam Museum at at Cambridge University.

Answer: No

Several hundred years after his death, Ramses III's mummy was removed from his tomb by Egyptian priests, re-wrapped, and deposited with 35 other royal mummies in a common tomb near Deir-el-Bahari. This mummy cache was discovered in 1881. Unlike most of the royal mummies, Ramses III was intact and his mummy shows no signs of damage inflicted by grave robbers. Any jewelry or amulets remaining on the body were removed when his mummy was re-wrapped.

The mummy is well-preserved, and the facial features are quite distinct.

It is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. His mummy shows that Ramses III was about 65 years old when he died, and was quite obese.

Answer: Ramses IV

Ramses III was succeeded on the throne by his son, Ramses IV. Ramses IV was the first of a long line of weak and short-lived pharaohs, under which Egypt's power and prestige declined markedly. Ramses IV was the son of Ramses III and one of his minor wives named Tyti.

He ruled for about six years, and was buried in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings called KV2. His tomb has been open since ancient times, and contains graffiti written by ancient Greek and Roman tourists.

Answer: True

In 1940, Universal Studios released "The Mummy's Hand," the first in a series of films that included "The Mummy's Tomb," "The Mummy's Ghost," and "The Mummy's Curse." Makeup artist Jack Pierce modeled the features of the evil mummy, Kharis (first played by Tom Tyler and later by Lon Cheney), after a photograph of Ramses III.