Ramesses VI

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Ramesses VI^[1]

Also written Ramses and Rameses

Image of Ramesses VI on display at the Louvre

Pharaoh of Egypt

Reign

1145–1137 BC, 20th Dynasty

Predecessor

Ramesses V

Successor

Ramesses VII

Royal titulary

Consort(s)

Nubkhesbed

Children

Ramesses VII, Iset or Isis, Amonherkhopsef, Panebenkemyt

Father

Ramesses III

Mother

Iset Ta-Hemdjert

Died

1137 BC

Burial

KV9

Ramesses VI (also written Ramses and Rameses) was the fifth ruler of the Twentieth dynasty of Egypt who reigned from 1145 BC to 1137 BC and a son of Ramesses III by Iset Ta-Hemdjert. His royal tomb, KV9, is located near Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings.

Ramesses' prenomen or royal name was Nebmaatre-meryamun meaning "Lord of Justice is Re, Beloved of Amun" while his royal epithet--Amunherkhepshef Netjer-heqa-iunu--translates as "Amun is his Strength, God Ruler of Heliopolis.^[2] His 8th Regnal Year is attested in a graffito which names the then serving High Priest of Amun, Ramessessnakht. Based on Raphael Ventura's successful reconstruction of Turin Papyrus 1907+1908, Ramesses VI is now known to have enjoyed a reign of 8 full Years.^[3]^[4] He lived for two months into his brief 9th Regnal Year before dying and was succeeded by his son, Ramesses VII.

[edit] Reign

Ushabti of Ramesses VI in the British Museum in London

Egypt's political and economic decline continued unabated during Ramesses VI's reign; he is the last king of Egypt's New Kingdom whose name is attested in the Sinai.^[5] At Thebes, the power of the chief priests of Amun Ramessesnakht grew at the expense of Pharaoh despite the fact that Isis, Ramesses VI's daughter, was connected to the Amun priesthood "in her role as God's Wife of Amun or Divine Adoratice."^[6]

Shortly after his burial, his tomb was penetrated and ransacked by grave robbers who hacked away at his hands and feet in order to gain access to his jewelry. A medical examination of his mummy which was found in KV35 in 1898 reveals severe damage to his body with this pharaoh's head and torso being broken into several pieces by an axe.^[7] The creation of Ramesses VI's tomb, however, protected Tutankhamon's own intact tomb from grave robbers since debris from its formation was dumped over the tomb entrance to the boy king's tomb.

[edit] References

^ [1] Ramesses VI Nebmaatre-meryamun
^ Peter Clayton, Chronicle of the Pharaohs, Thames & Hudson Ltd, (1994), p.167
^ Raphael Ventura, More Chronological Evidence from Turin Papyrus Cat.1907+1908, JNES 42, No.4 (1983), pp.271-277
^ Clayton, op. cit., p.168
^ Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, (Blackwell Books: 1992), p.288
^ Grimal, op. cit., p.288
^ Clayton, Chronicle, p.168