Ramessesnakht was

High Priest of Amun The High Priest of Amun or First Prophet of Amun ('' ḥm nṯr tpj n jmn'') was the highest-ranking priest in the priesthood of the ancient Egyptian god Amun. The first high priests of Amun appear in the New Kingdom of Egypt, at the beginnin ...

during many years in the 20th Dynasty. He was appointed as the High Priest at Thebes under

Ramesses IV Usermaatre Heqamaatre Setepenamun Ramesses IV (also written Ramses or Rameses) was the third pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. He was the second son of Ramesses III and became crown prince when his elder br ...

. He served in office until 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 ...

. It was during Ramessesnakht's tenure that the power and importance of the Amun priesthood grew over Egypt while the

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

's power began to noticeably decline.

Biography

He was the son of Meribastet, steward to the pharaoh. Ramessesnakht was married to Adjedet-Aat, the daughter of Setau, High Priest of

Nekhbet Nekhbet (; also spelt Nekhebet) is an early predynastic local goddess in Egyptian mythology, who was the patron of the city of Nekheb (her name meaning ''of Nekheb''). Ultimately, she became the patron of Upper Egypt and one of the two patron ...

, and had at least two sons:

Amenhotep Amenhotep (''Ỉmn-ḥtp''; "Amun is pleased" or "Amun is satisfied") is an ancient Egyptian name. Its Greek version is Amenophis (). Its notable bearers were: __NOTOC__ Pharaohs of the 18th dynasty * Amenhotep I * Amenhotep II *Amenhotep III * ...

and Nesamun and a daughter Tamerit. His son Amenhotep would succeed him in office and there is evidence that, at least for a while, his son, the Second Prophet of Amun Nesamun also acted as High Priest of Amun. His daughter Tamerit married Amenemopet, Third Prophet of Amun, making the family related through marriage to another important priestly family, that of Bakenkhonsu who served as High Priest of Amun under

Ramesses II Ramesses II (sometimes written Ramses or Rameses) (; , , ; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was an Pharaoh, Egyptian pharaoh. He was the third ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty. Along with Thutmose III of th ...

. (Amenemopet was Bakenkhonsu's grandson through his daughter Nefertari.) Ramessesnakht is depicted in his father-in-law Setau's tomb in El-Kab. While in office, the High Priest Ramessesnakht personally led a massive

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

expedition to the rock quarries of Wadi Hammamat in Year 3 of

which consisted of 8,368 men alone including 5,000 soldiers, 2,000 personnel of the Amun temples, 800 Apiru and 130 stonemasons and quarrymen. This was recorded on a rock cut stela. He secured

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and

galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crysta ...

(for eye paint) under Ramesses VII and IX.

Theban graffito 1860a

For a time it was believed that there might have been two High Priests of Amun called Ramessesnakht. This was based on an incorrect reading of Theban graffito 1860a. This graffito was dated to an anonymous year 8 and seemed to mention, besides Ramessesnakht, a royal butler and the mayor of Thebes Amenmose, a Chief Workman of the Necropolis called Amennakht. Bierbrier suggested to identify this Amennakht with the Chief Workman of that name who was active in year 3 of Ramesses X. This would make the Ramessesnakht of the graffito into the second High Priest of this name. However, Bierbrier's hypothesis would also imply that Ramesses X reached a hitherto unattested year 8. At the time this seemed to be confirmed by a theory of Richard Parker who, on solely astronomical grounds had postulated a year 9 for Ramesses X. Parker’s theory has since been abandoned, and Lanny Bell has shown that the graffito actually mentioned a certain “Pamose, son of the Chief Workman Amennakht” and not the workman himself. Bell suggested that Theban graffito 1860a actually belonged to year 8 of the reign 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 centur ...

. Although his hypothesis introduces a hitherto unknown Chief Workman Amennakht, this is a far more economical solution than having to postulate a second High Priest Ramessesnakht, a new Mayor Amenmose and some five otherwise unattested years for Ramesses X.

Death and burial

Ramessesnakht was buried in TT293. Surrounding the date of his death and burial there is some controversy. The highest attested date for Ramessesnakht so far stems from year 2 of Ramesses IX. In a text stemming from the reign of

Ramesses XI Menmaatre Ramesses XI (also written Ramses and Rameses) reigned from 1107 BC to somewhere between 1078 BC and 1068 BC and is generally considered the tenth and final pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt and as such, the last king of the Ne ...

, the High Priest of Amun, Amenhotep, refers to the burial of his father “in year ..... ear lostof Pharaoh”. This is problematical, since during this period, in official texts the term “Pharaoh” was normally used only to refer to the living king. Still, the fact that his son, Amenhotep, is first attested in office in year 9 of Ramesses IXHelck, CDÉ 59 (1984), 245 clearly shows that Ramessesnakht must have died under this king and not under Ramesses XI.

Biography

Theban graffito 1860a

Death and burial

References

Further reading