Egypt Exploration Society

Reflections on the Reign of Ramesses VI

Author(s): Amin A. M. A. Amer
Source: The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 71 (1985), pp. 66-70
Published by: Egypt Exploration Society
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(66)

REFLECTIONS ON THE REIGN OF

RAMESSES VI*
By AMIN A. M. A. AMER
HITHERTOthe history of the reign of Ramesses VI has not received much attention in
histories of Egypt, except for Cerny's account in the Cambridge Ancient History.l

While he threw some light on part of this reign, it is perhaps possible to add some
further details.
In Western Thebes, the opening of the new reign was announced by the vizier

himself, that NebmacatreAmenhirkhopshef, Ramesses beloved of Amun (etc.), had

arisen as ruler, to be greeted with the appropriate rejoicing by the royal tomb
workforce.2 What may not have been noticed previously is that the writer of this

ostracon has mixed up the king's titles (interchanging 'beloved of Amun' and
Amenhirkhopshef), because he was not yet familiar with the new king's official titles.
During the next season (Shomu), life seemed quite normal in Western Thebes;
a large number of men were deployed to move stone for monuments, and precious
chests adorned with gold and turquoise.3 This activity surely belonged to preparations for the anticipated burial of Ramesses V. In the same source the next important

event was a great festival of Amun, witnessed by its writer:

See, they came, they being in the ships like [. . .; there came(?)] the city (of Thebes)
together with the West of the city, to shout (with joy), all of them. We rejoiced greatly
(also) ... [As for(?)] Amen-re<, king of the gods, they rejoiced over him together with all the

gods of heaven and earth, in sail[ing . . .].

As the next legible date is in first month of Peret (see below), this major celebration
must have fallen in either Shomu or Akhet. Therefore, we have here either the
Valley Festival or the Opet Festival, especally as the last visible word nr[. . .]
probably refers to traversing water, i.e. across the Nile or up to Luxor. But the
question arises, who were 'they' who arrived in 'the ships', leading to rejoicing with
Amun and the gods? It is most likely to be the new king himself together with his
court. The period from early in Peret to mid-Shomu (if it was on the occasion of the
Valley Festival) would allow for the mummification of Ramesses V and the journey
up the Nile to Thebes
*

for his burial as well as to celebrate

the Valley Festival.4

But

I am indebted to Dr K. A. Kitchen for kindly discussing with me various points presented in this paper.

1 Cerny, CAH3 ii, 2, 6II-i6.

2
Cerny and Gardiner, Hieratic Ostraca, I (1957), pl. 68, i; now, K(itchen), R(amesside) I(nscriptions), vi,
364, 4ff: cf. also Cerny, The Valley of the Kings (1973), I6.
3 P. Turin
2044, recto; KRI, VI, 340, I I-341, 8.
4
Ramesses VI definitely visited Thebes on a later celebration of the Valley Festival, when he installed his
daughter Isis as God's Wife of Amun (cf. below); he may thus have visited Thebes on this occasion also.

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REFLECTIONS

ON THE

REIGN

OF RAMESSES

VI

67

Ramesses V was not buried immediately, or in tomb 9 in the Valley of the Kings.
Instead, his mummy seems to have been put into store until he was finally buried in
Year 2, because Ramesses VI had decided to take over and complete Ramesses V's
tomb for his own use.5 The whole of tomb 9 is decorated for Ramesses VI, and no
room anywhere in it is still allowed to Ramesses V. Therefore, the delay in his burial
was necessary to allow time for cutting a small (probably undecorated) tomb for the
burial of Ramesses V, presumably elsewhere in the Valley of the Kings.
However, at the beginning of this reign the situation in the south was not
completely stable, as we hear about the idleness of the royal tomb-workmen in
Year i, first month of Peret, days I I, 12, 13, 27, 'because

of the enemy'.6

This could

just possibly be, as Cerny had suggested,7 a civil war, or else the enemy here could
be identified as Libyan marauders plus Egyptian bandits.8 Against Cerny's civil-war
suggestion stands the evidence (as he recognized) of the undisturbed continuity of
various high officials under both Ramesses V and Ramesses VI. This enemy was
rumoured to have threatened Per-Nebyt (north of Thebes?), destroying everything
and burning its people. This would show some serious trouble which had broken out
early in the reign. But, in contrast, from Year 2 onward, normality in Thebes began
again as shown by records of peaceful activity,9 and we do not hear about any more
trouble from this front. Perhaps, therefore, Ramesses VI actually took firm action
against these Libyan and other elements. His well-known statue from Karnak10
shows him grasping a helpless Libyan captive. Such an unusual piece may have
reflected the modest reality of such a 'clearing up' operation.1l Also, a triumphal
scene on the vestibule of Pylon II shows this same king victorious over foreigners,12
which would agree with this suggestion. In favour of this interpretation of the statue
and relief of Ramesses VI as possible indirect evidence of such actions by him, it may
be remarked that none of the other late Ramesside kings from Ramesses IV right
through to Ramesses XI had any such great triumph scene carved for them.13
0. Cairo Cat. 25, 254(nowKRI,
vI, 343, 13- 5); discussed earlier by Cerny, CAH3 11, 2,612: cf. also below.
7 CAIH II, 2, 6I3 f.
and
6, 7,
343, 9-I0.
8
Because the term rmt usually denotes Egyptians (often in contrast to foreigners), Cerny assumed the same
for this reference. But rmt may also occasionally refer to non-Egyptians, e.g. Libyans: cf. Kom el-Ahmar stela,
recto o: 'Prec himself cursed the people when they violated [(?) . . ]', in the context of Libyans invading Egypt.
Also, verso 2: '[...] its people, the Nine Bows being before him like (mere) harim-women', KRI, IV, 21, I, 13.
Even clearer, Merenptah's Libyan War inscription, 1. 38: 'List of the people among the enemy ... [killed, etc.]',
where (again) rmt is for Libyans (KRI, iv, 6, 12); and First Hittite Marriage Text of Ramesses II, Karnak, 1. 33:
'all the people of the Hatti-land', where rmt is Hittites (KRI, II, 25 , 2, cf. 252, i). Therefore, the people of our
document (n. 6, above) could very easily be Libyans or foreigners, not Egyptians, and all reason for assuming a
civil war vanishes.
9 See the
journal of work in the royal tomb at this time, P. Turin 1923, ibid. 367-8. On this document and its
date, see Cerny, The Valley of the Kings, 21, 25 (no. 2), 32.
10 Cairo Cat.
42152, Legrain, Statues et statuettes des rois et des particuliers, II, 17-I9, pl. xv; KRI, VI, 286.
11 Compare the pompous language about 'the strong arm of Pharaoh' and Amin's
might, to describe a very
minor action in the Egyptian desert under Ramesses IX, ibid. 520, 3-7: cf. Helck, JARCE 6 (1967), 135 ff.
12 The foreigners (Libyans?) cannot be identified,
as everything is lost except their upraised hands: cf.
Kitchen and Gaballa, ZAS 96 (I969), pl. viib.
13 In fact (apart from Ramesses
VI) no more such triumph scenes are known after Ramesses III until the
Tanite fragment of Siamiin and the great relief of Shoshenq I at Karnak itself; references for these will be found
in Kitchen, Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (I973), 280-I, and 432 ff.
5

6 Cf. KRI, vI, 342,

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68

AMIN

A. M. A. AMER

Furthermore, Ramesses VI adopted titles for himself which were clearly militaristic
in tone: Horus, K] nht r;-nhtw, srnh-t;wy, 'Strong Bull, great of victories, keeping
alive the Two Lands', and Nebty-king, Wsr-hps hd-hfnw, 'Powerful of arm, (in)
attacking myriads'.l4
In Year 2, second month of Akhet, a well-known ostracon reports on 'reaching the
west of the city by (king) Sekheper(en)re<, he being in burial'.15 This delayed event
could also reflect the peaceful period which would have followed a victory of Ramesses
VI against Libyan invaders and others, and permitted this burial in some secondary
tomb in Western Thebes. Moreover, Ramesses VI appointed his daughter Isis as
God's Wife of Amun.16 This action would support the idea of there being a peaceful
atmosphere in Thebes from Year 2 onwards; the king would not risk his daughter's
safety, if the Libyans or bandits still threatened Thebes. Her appointment was a big
state occasion in the great forecourt (wb; r;) of Amun at Karnak in the presence of
Ramesses VI himself, his mother, the vizier,17 and, no doubt, many other notables.
In addition to these activities Ramesses VI was addicted to statue cults of himself.
Besides the one familar from the tomb of Penne in Aniba,18 there was in Thebes a
statue cult of this king as 'Ramesses VI beloved like Amun'.19 It was established in
the shrines of Ramesses II at Deir el-Medina probably next to the temple of the
goddess Hathor, where the Ptolemaic temple now stands. At the same time the royal
cult was also renewed there which was neglected by Queen Twosret.20 A door-jamb
from Deir el-Medina bears the dedication by Ramesses VII, 'making monuments
for his father Ramesses VI'.21 So perhaps he renewed his father's statue cult there,
the jamb being part of a shrine for his father's statue. There is another piece of
evidence which may be related to this same cult: graffito No. 2169 in Western
Thebes.22 This reads: 'Year I, high priest of Nebmacatrec beloved of Amun,
KhaCemhedjet.' This strange title could be related to the statue cult as established
by Ramesses VI (cf. P. Turin, 1879) in his own first year, or even to the confirmation
of that cult in the first year of his successor, i.e. Ramesses VII (cf. the jamb, above).
Kha<emhedjet could be either the future necropolis scribe (son of Harshere),23 or
a workman of the same name.24 If he was the future scribe, he would be quite young
under Ramesses VII, and still younger under Ramesses VI. Therefore, it is more
likely that we should attribute this Year i to Ramesses VII rather than to VI.
14

15 Ibid.
e.g. KRI, VI, 286, 4, and 327, I2.
343, 13.
Ibid. 321-2
For
(Deir el-Bakhit).
princess Isis, cf. also ibid. 282 (Koptos stela) and 347-8 (other
monuments).
17
Nehi, evidently a successor of Neferronpet (who had already served under Ramesses IV and V); for both cf.
ibid. 348-9 with cross-references.
18
Ibid. 350-3.
19
Bearing a similar name to the statue at Aniba ('Ramesses VI, son of Amun, beloved like Horus lord of
Miam'), 353, I.
20 P. Turin
1879, verso I-II; ibid. 335-7; translated by Helck, Materialien zur Wirtschaftsgeschichtedes Neuen
16

Reiches,
21

I (1961),

197.

22
KRI, VI, 388, 7-8.
Cerny-Sadek, Graffiti de la montagne thebaine, Iv (I), 45; KRI, vI, 366, 9.
23
Cerny, A Communityof Workmenat Thebesin the RamessidePeriod (I973), 193, 219, and especially 352-5
and 355-7.
24
There is Khacemhedjet, uncle of the scribe of that name: cf. Cerny, op. cit. 346 and n. 3, and 355 and n. 9.

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REFLECTIONS

ON THE

REIGN

OF RAMESSES

VI

69

It should be noted in this connection that quite a number of statues of Ramesses

VI have been found: in Tanis, Bubastis, and Karnak.25 Thus if we compare him
with Ramesses V and VII-XI, quite apart from cults, none of them even have
known statues up to the present except just one for Ramesses VII and three for
Ramesses IX.26
Ramesses VI is one of those late New-Kingdom pharaohs whose cartouches can be
found added to earlier monuments. In a document from his Year 3 we can actually
see this being done: 'second27 month of Akhet, day 8 -on this day the draughtsmen
and the sculptors engraved the cartouches which are [on] the granary of the
guardhouse

(htm) in the name of the king Nebmacatrec

beloved

of Amun

.'. We

then read of Khacemhedjet, son of the scribe Harshere, and of the arrival at Thebes
of the high priest of Amun (unnamed) together with the royal butler Qadran and the
chief treasurer Montuemtawy; they possibly consulted an oracle.28 Just a year later
in Year 4 (third month of Akhet), 'the chief officials' occur again, with the workforce
being mustered and given orders, and three youths being removed for unknown
reasons.29
Public display apart, economy in public spending was a mark of Ramesses VI's
reign. On the main processional routes of Amun in Karnak, Luxor, and the
Ramesseum, he had his cartouches and titles carved quickly over many of those of
Ramesses IV (already occupying the most prominent places) to save time and
expenditure on cutting new inscriptions.30 In Year 2 he had the tomb work-force cut
from 120 to sixty men, the extra people being transferred to external services for the
remaining vilagers.31 This presumably reflects the fact that the new king was taking
over Ramesses V's tomb already largely excavated. Finally, in Year 6, the high priest
of Amun Ramessesnakhte recalled a whole consignment of copper tools from the
Deir el-Medina workmen, initially 550 deben, but amounting to at least 600 deben
when it was eventually delivered to him by the leaders of the workmen in the great
forecourt of Amuin at Karnak.32
Such a recall of tools might suggest that work on Ramesses VI's adopted tomb
had largely been finished by Year 6. The highest date for the reign of Ramesses
VI known at present is Year 8, second month of Peret, days ii and i8 in an
ostracon,33 soon after which he may have died. A West-Theban graffito (No. i 86oa)
of Year 8, third month of Akhet, day 6, has been attributed to either Ramesses X34
25 KRI, VI, 280, 286-7, 329-7, 329-30 (ten statues and a sphinx!).
26 Of Ramesses
VII, ibid. 385 (Cairo JdE 37595); of Ramesses IX, ibid. 449, 462.
27 Written
'first', but an error for 'second', as it follows the date of 2 Akhet I4.
28 P. Bibl. Nat.
237/I, in ibid. 339, 13-340, 5; these officials and their date are cited by Cerny, CAH3 II, 2, 614;
the end of the text is doubtful and obscure.
29 Cf.
KRI, vI, 369, 5ff.
30 Cf.
Kitchen, JEA 68 (1982), 122 with references.
31
As already discussed by Cerny, op. cit. 612-I3
(0. Berlin P. 12654 vs.), now in KRI, vI, 344-5, especially 345,
2 ff. Before he sailed back north, the vizier was presented with a gift of two silver tools by the leaders of the
workmen (ibid. 345, 9-12), perhaps anxious to keep his favour.
32 Ibid.
33 Ibid. 372, 5-6, on which text cf. J. J. Janssen, GM 29 (I978), 45-6.
338-9.
34 See M. L. Bierbrier,
JEA 58 (1972), 195-9 (Ramesses X).

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70

AMIN

A. M. A. AMER

or Ramesses VI.35 If it belonged to the 8th year of Ramesses VI, then its report of
closing up of the royal tomb by the high priest Ramessesnakhte and other officials
may indicate that the finished tomb was being kept ready for the king, perhaps
already ill or on his death-bed.
Thus, when we consider this material, we can discern rather more detail and
variety of events in this little-known reign than previously, and even perhaps to
glimpse a king who wished to pose as a great pharaoh in an age of unrest and
decline.36
L. Bell, Serapis 6 (I982), 7-27 (Ramesses VI).
At Memphis, he 'made his monument ... erecting a great pylon of fine stone ..',
texts from fragments of a granite gateway-cornice, KRI, vi, 281, 5, 6.
35
36

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in the words of broken