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Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt > Seti II

Seti II

A replica statue of Seti II holding a shrine to the god Amun on display at the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum.

Seti II (or Sethi II), was the fifth ruler of the 19th Dynasty of Egypt and reigned from 1203 BC - 1197 BC. His throne name, Userkheperure Setepenre, meant "Powerful are the Manifestations of Re, Chosen by Re.' He was the son of Merneptah and wife Isisnofret and sat on the throne during a period known for dynastic intrigue and short reigns, and his rule was no different. Seti II had to deal with many serious plots, most significantly being the accession of a rival king named Amenmesse, possibly a half brother, who seized control over Thebes and Nubia in Upper Egypt during his second to fourth regnal years.

It was not unusual in ancient Egypt for the successful, long reign of a king to be followed by succession problems. Of course, few kings had a longer, more successful reign than Ramesses II, and when he died, he left a son who was now old himself as the new King. This was Merneptah, who was almost certainly the father of Seti II. We believe that an usurper named Amenemesses probably ruled either before him, or concurrently with Seti II during the early part of his rule. It may have been Amenemesses who erased the name of Seti II in his tomb and elsewhere, but it was likewise Seti II who probably did likewise to the names and images of Amenemesses after taking complete control of Egypt. We believe that Seti may have only reigned for about six years, from about 1199 until 1193 BC.

We do know that Seti II took at least three wives, consisting of Takhat II, Tausret and Tiaa (Sutailja??). Tausret apparently was the mother of his oldest son and heir named Seti-Merenptah, but that child did not live to inherit the throne. Instead, it was Siptah, a younger son who replaced the king, though probably only as a child under Tausret's regency even though his mother is considered to have been Queen Tiaa. In fact, Tausret appears to have outlived this young king, taking full possession of the throne herself with full royal titles much as Hatshepsut had done some 300 years earlier.

Seti II's reign was apparently relatively peaceful. We have no evidence of foreign policy during his reign, though there was probably activity at the mines around Serabit el-Khadim in the Sinai. He made a number of claims regarding building projects, though there is little indication that his words translate into physical accomplishments. We find surviving trances of his work at Hermopolis, where he apparently finished some decorations in his grandfather's, Ramesses II, temple. He also did some work in Karnak, where he was probably responsible for a new way station of the sacred barks in the First Court of the temple of Amun-Re, and he probably also completed some work in the temple of Mut.

Reign

Seti II promoted Chancellor Bay to become his most important state official and built 3 tombs - KV13, KV14, and KV15 - for himself, his Senior Queen Twosret and Bay in the Valley of the Kings. This was an unprecedented act on his part for Bay, who was of Syrian descent and was not connected by marriage or blood ties to the royal family. Due to the relative brevity of his reign, Seti's tomb was unfinished at the time of his death. Twosret later rose to power herself after the death of Siptah, Seti II's successor. According to a graffito written in the first corridor of Twosret's KV14 tomb, Seti II was buried in his KV15 tomb on "Year 1, IV Peret day 11" of Siptah.

Seti II's earliest prenomen in his First Year was 'Userkheperure Setepenre' which is written above an inscription of Messuwy, a Viceroy of Nubia under Merneptah, on a rock outcropping at Bigeh Island. However, Messuwy's burial in Tomb S90 in Nubia has been discovered to contain only funerary objects naming Merneptah which suggests that

• Messuwy may have died during Merneptah's reign and
• Seti II merely associated himself with an official who had actively served his father as Viceroy of Kush. Seti II soon changed his royal name to 'Userkheperure Meryamun', which was the most common form of his prenomen.

Two important papyri date from the reign of Seti II. The first of these is the Tale of Two Brothers, a fabulous story of troubles within a family on the death of their father, which may have been intended in part as political satire on the situation of the two half brothers. The second is the records of the trial of Paneb. Neferhotep, one of the two chief workmen of the Deir el Medina necropolis, had been replaced by Paneb, his troublesome son-in-law. Many crimes were alleged by Neferhotep's brother, Amennakhte against Paneb in a violently worded indictment preserved in papyrus now in the British Museum. If Amennakhte's testimony can be trusted, Paneb had allegedly stolen stone from the tomb of Seti II while still working on its completion for the embellishment of his own tomb--besides purloining or damaging other property belonging to that monarch. Paneb was also accused of trying to kill Neferhotep, his adopted father-in-law, despite being educated by the latter and after the murder of Neferhotep by 'the enemy,' Paneb had reportedly bribed the Vizier Pra'emhab in order to usurp his father's office. Whatever the truth of these accusations, it is clear that Thebes was going through very troubled times. There are references elsewhere to a 'war' that had occurred during these years, but it is obscure to what this word alludes, perhaps to no more than internal disturbances and discontent. Neferhotep had complained of Paneb's attacks on himself to the vizier Amenmose, presumably a predecessor of Pra'emhab, whereupon Amenmose had punished Paneb. This trouble-maker had then brought a complaint before 'Mose' (ie: 'Msy'), who then acted to remove Pra'emhab from his office. Evidently this 'Mose' must have been a person of the highest importance, perhaps the king Amenmesse himself or a senior ally of the king.

Seti II also expanded the copper mining at Timna in Edom, building an important temple to Hathor the cow goddess in the region. Abandoned in the late Bronze Age collapse, where a part of the temple seems to have been used by Midianite nomads, linked to the worship of a bronze serpent discovered in the area. Seti II also founded a station for a barge on the courtyard in front of the pylon II at Karnak, and chapels of Theban triad - Amun, Mut and Chonsu.