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63-527: It contains an extraordinary collection of mummified remains and funeral equipment of more than 50 kings, queens, and other royal family members of the New Kingdom , as it was used as a cache for royal mummies during the Twenty-first Dynasty . The eleven pharaohs found there include 1 of the 9 pharaohs from the 17th dynasty, 5 of the 15 pharaohs from the 18th dynasty, 3 of the 8 pharaohs from

126-446: A uraeus , and djed -pillars. A bronze embalming plate was placed over the incision used to remove the organs. Bundles containing the mummified organs were placed inside the body cavity; a small amulet depicting the baboon-headed god Hapi was included with the intestines. Thin gold rings were found on most of the fingers, which Smith suggested were used to hold gold finger stalls in place. This Ancient Egypt biographical article

189-607: A "New Kingdom" as one of three "golden ages" was coined by German scholar Christian Charles Josias von Bunsen ; the original definition would evolve significantly throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The later part of this period, under the Nineteenth Dynasty (1295–1189 BC) and the Twentieth Dynasty (1189–1069 BC), is also known as the Ramesside period . It is named after the eleven pharaohs who took

252-516: A CT scan had revealed a deep knife wound in the mummy's throat, indicating that Ramesses was indeed killed by the conspirators. He died in Thebes in the 32nd year of his reign and was succeeded by Crown Prince Ramesses IV . A number of raids by the Libyans and the sea people, more dangerous than those during the reign of Ramses III , drew the kingdom to more weakness. This increased the influence of

315-619: A distinctive new style (see Amarna Period ). By the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty, Egypt's status had changed radically. Aided by Akhenaten's apparent lack of interest in international affairs, the Hittites had gradually extended their influence into the Levant to become a major power in international politics—a power that both Seti I and his son Ramesses II would confront during the nineteenth Dynasty. The last two members of

378-516: A peak in Egypt's power and wealth during the reign of Amenhotep III. The term pharaoh , originally the name of the king's palace, became a form of address for the person who was king during his reign ( c.  1479 –1425 BC). Widely considered a military genius by historians, Thutmose III conducted at least 16 campaigns in 20 years. He was an active expansionist ruler. He is recorded to have captured 350 cities during his rule and conquered much of

441-403: A statue of Ramses II was erected. Thus he recaptured Qadesh and northern Amurru. Nevertheless, like Seti I, he found that he could not permanently hold territory so far from base and after years of conflict, a peace treaty was concluded between the two states. Egypt was able to obtain wealth and stability under the rule of Ramesses, for more than half a century. His immediate successors continued

504-581: A time of decline of the Egyptian kingdom, during which mummies from former dynasties were vulnerable to grave robbery. During Ramesses IX 's reign, he had teams that went out and inspected the tombs of pharaohs. If it were discovered that repairs to the tomb or the mummy were needed, arrangements would be made to make the necessary repairs. The tombs that were inspected were found untouched at that time. During Herihor 's reign, however, some tombs and mummies were found to be in need of what they called "renewing

567-419: A transition period between the reign of Horemheb and the powerful pharaohs of this dynasty, in particular, his son Seti I and grandson Ramesses II, who would bring Egypt to new heights of imperial power. Seti I fought a series of wars in western Asia, Libya, and Nubia in the first decade of his reign. The main source for knowledge of Seti's military activities are his battle scenes on the north exterior wall of

630-736: The Eighteenth , Nineteenth , and Twentieth dynasties. Through radiocarbon dating , the establishment of the New Kingdom has been placed between 1570 BC and 1544 BC. The New Kingdom followed the Second Intermediate Period and was succeeded by the Third Intermediate Period . It was the most prosperous time for the Egyptian people and marked the peak of Egypt's power. In 1845, the concept of

693-589: The Levant and reached as far as the Euphrates , thus becoming the first pharaoh to cross the river. During this campaign, the Syrian princes declared allegiance to Thutmose. However, after he returned, they discontinued tribute and began fortifying against future incursions. Hatshepsut was one of the most powerful pharaohs of this dynasty. She was the daughter of Thutmose I and the royal wife of Thutmose II . Upon

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756-609: The Near East from the Euphrates to Nubia during seventeen known military campaigns. He was the first pharaoh after Thutmose I to cross the Euphrates, doing so during his campaign against Mitanni . He continued north through the territory belonging to the still unconquered cities of Aleppo and Carchemish and quickly crossed the Euphrates in his boats, taking the Mitannian king entirely by surprise. The wealthiest of all

819-728: The Sea Peoples invaded Egypt by land and sea. Ramesses III defeated them in two great land and sea battles (the Battle of Djahy and the Battle of the Delta ). He incorporated them as subject peoples and is thought to have settled them in Southern Canaan, although there is evidence that they forced their way into Canaan. Their presence in Canaan may have contributed to the formation of new states, such as Philistia , in this region after

882-479: The Second Intermediate Period , thereby building the wealth of the Eighteenth Dynasty. She oversaw the preparations and funding for a mission to the Land of Punt . After her death, having gained valuable experience heading up the military for Hatshepsut, Thutmose III assumed rule. Thutmose III expanded Egypt's army and wielded it with great success to consolidate the empire created by his predecessors. This resulted in

945-470: The priests of Amon which finally led to the control of the great priests on the throne. Ramesses III's death was followed by years of bickering among his heirs. Three of his sons ascended the throne successively as Ramesses IV , Rameses VI , and Rameses VIII . Egypt was increasingly beset by droughts, below-normal flooding of the Nile , famine, civil unrest, and corruption of officials. The power of

1008-452: The 19th dynasty, and 2 of the 10 pharaohs from the 20th dynasty. The tomb was originally used as last resting place of High Priest of Amun Pinedjem II , his wife Neskhons , and other close family members. Its discovery by locals between 1860 and 1871, and by Egyptologists in 1881, caused a sensation. The mummies quickly became a highlight of the new Egyptian Museum (then in Giza). In 1969,

1071-540: The Abd el-Rassul family. Authorities interrogated and tortured the two brothers until one of the brothers eventually gave up the location of the tomb where the items were plundered from. Authorities were sent out to TT320 immediately to secure it. On July 6, 1881, authorities arrived at TT320 without the head of the Egyptian Service of Antiquities, because he was on vacation. Instead, the only other European member of

1134-505: The Aten as his personal deity is often interpreted as history's first instance of monotheism . Akhenaten's wife, Nefertiti , contributed a great deal to his new direction in the Egyptian religion. Nefertiti was bold enough to perform rituals to Aten. Akhenaten's religious fervour is cited as the reason why he and his wife were subsequently written out of Egyptian history. Under his reign, in the fourteenth century BC, Egyptian art flourished in

1197-534: The Egyptian Empire in Asia. The severity of the difficulties is indicated by the fact that the first known labour strike in recorded history occurred during the twenty-ninth year of Ramesses III's reign. At that time, the food rations for Egypt's favoured and elite royal tomb-builders and artisans in the village of Deir el Medina could not be provisioned. Air pollution limited the amount of sunlight penetrating

1260-530: The Eighteenth Dynasty— Ay and Horemheb —became rulers from the ranks of officials in the royal court, although Ay might also have been the maternal uncle of Akhenaten and a fellow descendant of Yuya and Tjuyu . Ay may have married the widowed Great Royal Wife and young half-sister of Tutankhamun, Ankhesenamun , in order to obtain power; she did not live long afterward. Ay then married Tey , who originally, had been wet-nurse to Nefertiti. Ay's reign

1323-613: The Hittites thanks to the arrival of the Ne'arin (possibly mercenaries in the employ of Egypt). The outcome of the battle was undecided, with both sides claiming victory at their home front, and ultimately resulting in a peace treaty between the two governments. He campaigned later in the Levant capturing Edom and Moab . New kingdom Egyptian stelae from this period have been found in Jordan . Later, Egyptians conquered Qatna and Tunip where

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1386-531: The Hittites, Ramesses II had to deal with a raid by the Sherden sea people whom he defeated and incorporated into his army. His campaigns against the Hittites culminated in the Battle of Kadesh , where he led Egyptian armies against those of the Hittite king Muwatalli II . Ramesses was caught in history's first recorded military ambush, although he was able to rally his troops and turn the tide of battle against

1449-597: The Karnak Hypostyle Hall, along with several royal stelas with inscriptions mentioning battles in Canaan and Nubia. The greatest achievement of Seti I's foreign policy was the capture of the Syrian town of Kadesh and neighboring territory of Amurru from the Hittite Empire. Egypt had not held Kadesh since the time of Akhenaten . Seti I was successful in defeating a Hittite army that tried to defend

1512-548: The Second Intermediate Period, the rulers of the New Kingdom felt compelled to expand far into Nubia and to hold wider territories in the Near East , particularly on the Levantine frontier. The Eighteenth Dynasty included some of Egypt's most famous kings, including Ahmose I , Hatshepsut , Thutmose III , Amenhotep III , Akhenaten , and Tutankhamun . Ahmose I is viewed to be the founder of

1575-596: The archaeological complex of Abu Simbel , and the Mortuary temple known as the Ramesseum. He built on a monumental scale to ensure that his legacy would survive the ravages of time. Ramesses used art as a means of propaganda for his victories over foreigners, which are depicted on numerous temple reliefs. Ramesses II erected more colossal statues of himself than any other pharaoh, and also usurped many existing statues by inscribing his own cartouche on them. Ramesses II

1638-535: The archaeological fragments and the coffins, led this research team to conclude that this tomb was originally owned by a family from the Twenty-first Dynasty as a family tomb. New Kingdom of Egypt The New Kingdom , also called the Egyptian New kingdom Empire , refers to ancient Egypt between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC. This period of ancient Egyptian history covers

1701-566: The atmosphere, affecting agricultural production and arresting global tree growth for almost two full decades, until 1140 BC. One proposed cause is the Hekla 3 eruption of the Hekla volcano in Iceland, but the dating of this remains disputed. Near the end of Ramesses III's reign, one of his secondary wives plotted to assassinate the king in her quest to place her son on the throne. Palace personnel,

1764-462: The bandages around some of the bodies had been ripped apart in earlier times in order to remove any precious ornaments, such as amulets that were placed on the bodies for protection. Considering the inconsistencies of some of the mummies mentioned previously, one mummy in particular raises many questions due to inconsistencies in two of his papyri. The first papyrus, Book of the Dead of Djedptahiufankh A

1827-458: The burial places" . The tombs of Ramesses I , Seti I , and Ramesses II required "renewing" after pillaging, and this led to the royal mummies being moved to this tomb to protect them, with each coffin given dockets stating when they were moved and where they were reburied; some of the mummies had been moved multiple times before they were placed here. It was initially believed that this tomb originally belonged to an Eighteenth Dynasty queen who

1890-404: The coffins were not documented and items were not catalogued. Brugsch went back later to document the tomb but the problem with this is that when he went back, he was not able to remember every detail of the tomb. His recollection of the tomb is questionable since he did not document the details immediately upon entering the tomb. The removal of the items from TT320 so quickly presented problems that

1953-413: The collapse of the Egyptian Empire (In the reign of Ramses III himself, Egyptian presence in the Levant is still attested as far as Byblos ). He later was compelled to fight invading Libyan tribesmen in two major campaigns in Egypt's Western Delta in his sixth year and eleventh year respectively. The heavy cost of this warfare slowly drained Egypt's treasury and contributed to the gradual decline of

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2016-571: The death of her husband, she ruled jointly with his son by a minor wife, Thutmose III , who had ascended to the throne as a child of about two years of age, but eventually she ruled in her own right as king. Hatshepsut built extensively in the Karnak temple in Luxor and throughout all of Egypt and she re-established the trade networks that had been disrupted during the Hyksos rule of Lower Egypt during

2079-457: The different parts of the tomb and the measurement of the opening was just big enough to drag out the coffins. In addition to this, there were fragments of royal coffins and other items found in the bottom meter of debris in TT320. However, there were approximately ten coffins that were found with their foot ends missing. It is believed that this happened before they were placed in TT320 because there

2142-591: The discovery was dramatized in The Night of Counting the Years , which became one of Egypt's most widely respected films. In 2021 the mummies were moved to a modern display area in the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilization , following the high-profile Pharaohs' Golden Parade . The tomb is thought to have initially been the last resting place of High Priest of Amun Pinedjem II, his wife Nesikhons, and other close family members. Pinedjem II died around 969 BCE , in

2205-508: The eighteenth dynasty. He continued the campaigns of his father Seqenenre Tao and of Kamose against the Hyksos until he reunified the country once more. Ahmose would then continue to campaign in the Levant, the home of the Hyksos, to prevent any future invasions on Egypt. Ahmose was followed by Amenhotep I , who campaigned in Nubia and was followed by Thutmose I . Thutmose I campaigned in

2268-511: The harem, government officials, and army officers participated in the plot . A special court of 12 judges was formed to try the defendants who were sentenced to death. Written sources show that the coup failed and that the conspirators were successfully tried. However, it is not clear from the documents whether Ramses survived the assassination attempt. The king's mummy showed no visible wounds, and questions about his fate were left open to speculation for many years. In 2012, researchers announced that

2331-626: The kings of this dynasty is Amenhotep III , who built the Luxor Temple , the Precinct of Monthu at Karnak and his massive Mortuary Temple . Amenhotep III also built the Malkata palace, the largest built in Egypt. One of the best-known eighteenth dynasty pharaohs is Amenhotep IV, who changed his name to Akhenaten in honour of the Aten , a representation of the Egyptian god, Ra. His worship of

2394-510: The last pharaoh of the dynasty, Ramesses XI , grew so weak that in the south the High Priests of Amun at Thebes became the de facto rulers of Upper Egypt , and Smendes controlled Lower Egypt in the north, even before Rameses XI's death. Smendes eventually founded the twenty-first dynasty at Tanis . Djedptahiufankh Djedptahiufankh (c. 969 – c. 935 BCE) served as Second Prophet of Amun and Third Prophet of Amun during

2457-433: The military campaigns, although an increasingly troubled court—which at one point put a usurper ( Amenmesse ) on the throne—made it increasingly difficult for a pharaoh to effectively retain control of the territories. Ramesses II built extensively throughout Egypt and Nubia, and his cartouches are prominently displayed, even in buildings that he did not construct. There are accounts of his honor hewn on stone, statues, and

2520-468: The mummy of Ramesses I in 2003 shows that the Abd el-Rassul family may have actually discovered TT320 as early as 1860). For example, the Book of the Dead of Pinedjem II was purchased in 1876 for £400. The story that Ahmed Abd el-Rassul told was that one of his goats fell down a shaft and when he went down the shaft to retrieve the goat, he stumbled across this tomb. As he looked around, he discovered that this

2583-493: The name Ramesses, after Ramesses I , who founded the Nineteenth Dynasty, and his grandson Ramesses II , who was its longest-reigning monarch. Possibly as a result of the foreign rule of the Hyksos during the Second Intermediate Period, the New Kingdom saw a historic expansion into the Levant , thus marking Egypt's greatest territorial extent. Similarly, in response to attacks by the Kushites , who led raids into Egypt during

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2646-535: The opening was naturally covered with sand and possibly other debris such as rocks, rendering it difficult to find. In 1881, the location of TT320 became publicly known. Later research, conducted by Gaston Maspero , stated that members of the local Abd el-Rassul family discovered TT320 as early as 1871, because items such as canopic jars and funeral papyri from this tomb showed up on the antiquities market in Luxor as early as 1874 (the reidentification and repatriation of

2709-459: The position of "the second prophet of Amun". Djedptahiuefankh was believed to be royal because on the Amduat papyrus his "priestly title" is immediately followed by "the king's son" and that is followed by "of Ramesses". Similar text is found on the Book of the Dead papyrus with one exception, "the king's son" is followed by "of the lord of the two lands". This title is what gave the impression that he

2772-545: The reign of Shoshenq I of the 22nd Dynasty . Djedptahiufankh is only known from his burial and mummy . He held the title of District Governor as well as "King's Son of Ramesses" and "King's Son of the Lord of the Two Lands ". The latter may suggest that he was related to the royal family of possibly the 21st Dynasty or 22nd Dynasty. It has been conjectured that Djedptahiufankh was the husband of Nesitanebetashru (A) (who

2835-614: The reign of Ay, leaving the opportunity for Horemheb to claim the throne next. Horemheb also died without surviving children, having appointed his vizier, Pa-ra-mes-su, as his heir. This vizier ascended the throne in 1292 BC as Ramesses I , and was the first pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty . The Nineteenth Dynasty was founded by the Vizier Ramesses I , whom the last ruler of the eighteenth dynasty, Pharaoh Horemheb, had chosen as his successor. His brief reign marked

2898-546: The remains of palaces and temples —most notably the Ramesseum in western Thebes and the rock temples of Abu Simbel . He covered the land from the Delta to Nubia with buildings in a way no king before him had. He also founded a new capital city in the Delta during his reign, called Pi-Ramesses . It previously had served as a summer palace during the reign of Seti I. Ramesses II constructed many large monuments, including

2961-458: The removal team at the time did not take into account. The hasty removal of the items in TT320 was not done carefully. When the items were received in Cairo, it was discovered that some coffins had damage that would have happened if they were banged around during removal or transport. Evidence suggests that the damage to the coffins happened during removal from TT320. Brugsch documented the height of

3024-416: The team, Émile Brugsch , was sent with one of the first Egyptian Egyptologists, Ahmed Kamal, to explore and examine TT320. Rather than just exploring, Brugsch had all of the contents, including the mummies, of this tomb removed within 48 hours of them entering this tomb. Neither Brugsch nor Kamal documented the tomb before having the contents removed, which made future study of this tomb difficult. Locations of

3087-399: The throne seems to have been disputed by his half-brother Amenmesse , who may have temporarily ruled from Thebes. Upon his death, Seti II's son Siptah , who may have been afflicted with poliomyelitis during his life, was appointed to the throne by Bay , a chancellor and a West Asian commoner who served as vizier behind the scenes. Siptah died early and throne was assumed by Twosret , who

3150-401: The tomb. Research teams have entered TT320 a number of times since its discovery, but the most successful research team entered TT320 in 1998. They cleared the passageways of fallen debris such as stones and fallen walls. They were able to find fragments of coffins and other small items. They were able to see some paintings after clearing debris away from the walls. These paintings, coupled with

3213-538: The town and erected a victory stela at the site which has been found by archaeologists. Kadesh, however, soon reverted to Hittite control because the Egyptians did not or could not maintain a permanent military occupation of Kadesh and Amurru which were close to the Hittite homelands. Ramesses II sought to recover territories in the Levant that had been held by the 18th Dynasty. In his second year, before confronting

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3276-568: Was a daughter of Pinedjem II and Neskhons ). This theory is based purely on the fact that Djedptahiufankh was buried next to Nesitanebetashru in DB320 . He died around the middle of Shoshenq I's reign according to inscriptions found written on the bandages of his mummy and coffin. He was buried in Deir El-Bahari Tomb 320 or DB320, which actually served as the family tomb of the 21st Dynasty High Priest of Amun Pinedjem I . DB320

3339-577: Was also famed for the huge number of children he sired by his various wives and concubines ; the tomb he built for his sons (many of whom he outlived) in the Valley of the Kings has proven to be the largest funerary complex in Egypt. The immediate successors of Ramesses II continued the military campaigns although an increasingly troubled court complicated matters. He was succeeded by his son Merneptah and then by Merneptah's son Seti II . Seti II's right to

3402-506: Was discovered in the 19th century and quickly became famous for containing a cache of many of the most significant New Kingdom royal mummies including the mortal remains of Amenhotep I , the Great Ramesses II , Ramesses III , Ramesses IX , and Thutmose I , Thutmose II and Thutmose III . Three separate mummy bandages dating to Years 5, 10 and 11 of Shoshenq I were found on Djedptahiufankh's body. Djedptahiufankh's burial

3465-410: Was found buried here. However, mummies were cached here in the Twenty-first Dynasty and the Eighteenth Dynasty queen was found at or near the entrance of the tomb, suggesting that she was placed in it last, which would indicate that this was not her tomb. If this was her tomb she would have been placed at the far, or back, end of the tomb. When the last of the mummies were placed in TT320, it seemed that

3528-409: Was found intact and undisturbed, and his mummy was unwrapped by Gaston Maspero in 1886. Amulets were found within the wrappings on the body, with ones in the form of snakes and lotus at the throat and a heart scarab on the chest. Grafton Elliott Smith removed the remainder of the wrappings in 1906 and discovered a group of various stone amulets on the left arm including those in the shape a heart, eyes,

3591-454: Was given to someone from a certain region, more specifically a town in the Delta called Ramesses . The chamber is reached by a nearly vertical chimney, which was left open in 1881, and has since filled with rocks and other debris (in fact every object that was left in the tomb has now been damaged in some way). It was reinvestigated in 1938. Since 1998 a Russian-German team led by Erhart Graefe has been working on reinvestigating and preserving

3654-435: Was no mention, by Brugsch, of foot ends whether they were whole, in pieces or fragments being found. A research team entered TT320 in 1998 for research and that team did not find any evidence of foot ends either. Once the coffins/mummies and items made it back to Cairo they were examined. It became clear that some of the mummies were found in the wrong coffins and that they were in different stages of preservation. For instance,

3717-456: Was no ordinary tomb. He saw that the mummies entombed in TT 320 were royal. This was indicated by the royal cobra head dress on some of the coffins. Local authorities were expecting to find several tombs belonging to the family of Herihor. When items started appearing on the antiquities market with their names on them, local authorities started to investigate the items and were able to trace them back to

3780-402: Was read incorrectly. The person who read it thought that one of Djedptahiuefankh A's titles was part of his name. On the second papyrus, The Amduat papyrus, Djedptahiuefankh A's first title was "the third prophet of Amun". However, he is called "the second prophet of Amun" on his coffin. This is thought to be because the items that had "the third prophet of Amun" were prepared prior to him reaching

3843-408: Was royal but that title does not mean that he was royal. In fact it is believed that he was not royal at all. Cynthia Sheikholeslami says that "It is clear that the actual title [of Djedptahiuefankh] should be understood as 'king's son of Ramesses' rather than as an indication of membership in the royal family". There are eight other individuals known to hold this same title. It is argued that this title

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3906-399: Was short. His successor was Horemheb, a general during the reign of Tutankhamun, whom the pharaoh may have intended as his successor in the event that he had no surviving children, which came to pass. Horemheb may have taken the throne away from Ay in a coup d'état . Although Ay's son or stepson Nakhtmin was named as his father or stepfather's Crown Prince, Nakhtmin seems to have died during

3969-481: Was the royal wife of his father and, possibly, his uncle Amenmesse's sister. A period of anarchy at the end of Twosret's short reign saw the enthronement of Setnakhte , establishing the Twentieth Dynasty . The last "great" pharaoh from the New Kingdom is widely considered to be Ramesses III , a Twentieth Dynasty pharaoh who reigned several decades after Ramesses II. In the eighth year of his reign,

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