Merenptah was the fourth king of the 19th Dynasty and the thirteenth son of Ramesses II (also known as “Ramesses the Great”). His mother was the Great Royal Wife Isetnofret. Because Ramesses II lived to an exceptional age (over ninety years) Merenptah only acceded to the throne late in life, probably in his late sixties,...
This gray granite bust from a statue of King Merneptah shows the king as a middle-aged man. He wears the nemes headdress topped by uraeus, or rearing cobra. His names are engraved upon his shoulders. The torso shows a strong, well-built body, serious face but softer features. The statue was once painted; the headdress was...
King Merneptah was originally buried within tomb (KV8) in the Valley of the Kings, but his mummy was not found there. In 1898 it was located along with eighteen other mummies in the mummy cache found in the tomb of Amenhotep II (KV35) by Victor Loret. In their search for gold, the tomb-robbers split the...
The stele of Merneptah was originally erected by King Amenhotep III in his mortuary temple on the west bank of Thebes. King Merneptah, the thirteenth son and successor of King Ramesses II, reused the back face of this gray granite stele. The round top of this face, topped by the winged sun disk and flanked...
