Usermaatre Setepenre Meryamun Ramesses VII (also written Ramses and Rameses) was the sixth

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...

of the

20th Dynasty The Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XX, alternatively 20th Dynasty or Dynasty 20) is the third and last dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1189 BC to 1077 BC. The 19th and 20th Dynasties furthermore toget ...

of Ancient Egypt. He reigned from about 1136 to 1129 BC and was the son of

Ramesses VI Ramesses VI Nebmaatre-Meryamun (sometimes written Ramses or Rameses, also known under his princely name of Amenherkhepshef C) was the fifth ruler of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt. He reigned for about eight years in the mid-to-late 12th century ...

. Other dates for his reign are 1138–1131 BC. The Turin Accounting Papyrus 1907+1908 is dated to Year 7 III Shemu day 26 of his reign and has been reconstructed to show that 11 full years passed from Year 5 of Ramesses VI to Year 7 of his reign.

Reign length

Ramesses VII's seventh year is also attested in Ostraca O. Strasbourg h 84, which is dated to II Shemu day 16 of his 7th Regnal Year. In 1980, C.J. Eyre demonstrated that a Year 8 papyrus belonged to the reign of Ramesses VII. This papyrus, P. Turin Cat. 1883 + 2095, dated to ''Year 8 IV Shemu day 25'' (most likely Ramesses VII), details the record of the commissioning of some copper work and mentions two foremen at Deir El-Medina: Nekhemmut and Hor ose The foreman Hormose was previously attested in office only during the reign of

Ramesses IX Neferkare Setepenre Ramesses IX (also written Ramses) (originally named Amon-her-khepshef Khaemwaset) (ruled 1129–1111 BC) was the eighth pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt. He was the third longest serving king of this Dynasty after Ra ...

while his father and predecessor in this post—a certain Ankherkhau—served in office from the second decade of the reign of Ramesses III through to Year 4 of Ramesses VII, where he is shown acting with Nekhemmut and the scribe Horisheri. The new Year 8 papyrus proves that Hormose succeeded to his father's office as foreman by Year 8 of Ramesses VII. Dominique Valbelle regards C.J. Eyre's attribution of this document to Ramesses VII as uncertain since the chief workman Hormose was previously only securely attested in office in Years 6 and 7 of

instead. However, this papyrus clearly bears the cartouche of Usermaatre Setepenre—the

prenomen The ''praenomen'' (; plural: ''praenomina'') was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birt ...

of Ramesses VII—at its beginning whereas the royal name of

was Neferkare—which rules out Ramesses IX as the king whose Year 8 is recorded in the P. Turin 1883 + 2095 document. The presence of Hormose's contemporary—the foreman Nekhemmut—also establishes that this papyrus dates to the mid-20th dynasty--most probably to the reign of Ramesses VII, since Nekhemmut is attested in office "from the second year of Ramesses IV until the seventeenth year of Ramesses IX." Since Ramesses VII's accession is known to have occurred around the end of III

Peret Pedro Pubill Calaf ( ; 24 March 1935 – 27 August 2014), better known as Peret, was a Spanish Romani singer, guitar player and composer of Catalan rumba from Mataró (Barcelona). Known for his 1971 single, "Borriquito" (Ariola Records), Per ...

,J. von Beckerath, Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten, Mainz am Rhein: Verlag Philipp von Zabern. (1997), p.201 the king would have ruled Egypt for a minimum period of 7 years and 5 months when this document was drawn up provided that it belonged to his reign as seems probable from the royal name given in the papyrus. The respected German Egyptologist

Jürgen von Beckerath Jürgen von Beckerath (19 February 1920, Hanover – 26 June 2016, Schlehdorf) was a German Egyptologist. He was a prolific writer who published countless articles in journals such as '' Orientalia'', ''Göttinger Miszellen'' (GM), '' Journal of ...

also accepts C.J. Eyre's evidence that Year 8 IV Shemu day 25 was Ramesses VII's highest known date. However, the accession date of his successor, Ramesses VIII, has been fixed by Amin Amer to an 8-month period between I Peret day 2 and I Akhet day 13, or 5 months after the Year 8 IV Shemu day 25 date of Ramesses VII. Therefore, if Ramesses VII did not die between the short 2 week period between IV Shemu day 29 to I Akhet 13, this pharaoh would have been on the throne for at least another 4 more months until I Peret day 2 and ruled Egypt for 7 years and 9 months when he died (perhaps slightly longer if he died after I Peret day 2). Therefore, it is possible that Ramesses VII could have ruled Egypt for almost 8 years; at present, his certain reign length is 7 years and 5 months. Very little is known about his reign, though it was evidently a period of some turmoil, as grain prices soared.

Ramesses VII's tomb and funerary equipment

Ramesses VII was buried in Tomb KV1 upon his death. His mummy has never been found, though four cups inscribed with the pharaoh's name were found in the "royal cache" in

DB320 The Royal Cache, technically known as TT320 (previously referred to as DB320), is an Ancient Egyptian tomb located next to Deir el-Bahri, in the Theban Necropolis, opposite the modern city of Luxor. It contains an extraordinary collection of mum ...

along with the remains of other pharaohs.Reeves, Nicholas. Wilkinson, Richard H. The Complete Valley of the Kings. p. 167. Thames & Hudson. 1997. (Reprint)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramesses 08 12th-century BC Pharaohs Pharaohs of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt 1120s BC deaths Year of birth unknown Ramesses VI

Reign length

Ramesses VII's tomb and funerary equipment

References

Further reading

External links