Pharaoh Eclipsed
Ancient Egypt|Issue 103

Nicky Nielsen surveys the achievements of Sety I, a King who was instrumental in founding the Nineteenth Dynasty.

Nicky Nielson
Pharaoh Eclipsed

In the spring of 1289 BC, a new pharaoh of Egypt,Sety I, surveyed his troops as they mustered at the bor-der fortress of Tjaru. Soldiers hurried around him down the cramped streets between workshops and magazines. Scribes distributed axes, spears, bows and arrows to the waiting throngs. In the distance, scouts prepared to leave well-ahead of the vanguard and the king himself. As he readied himself to face rebellious Bedouin and disloyal vassals, Sety must have wondered at the unusual circumstances which saw him – the son of a military officer – leading this army, rather than be counted as another soldier within it.

Son of a Soldier

The series of events which led to Sety’s inheritance of the throne of Egypt from his father, Ramesses I, began long before Sety himself was born. The administrative and religious centralisation undertaken by Akhenaten, in conjunction with the short and confused reigns of his successors,weakened the ruling Theban family. Into this vacuum stepped Horemheb, a general who himself came from humble beginnings. With Horemheb’s ascension in what amounted to a military coup, the power of the army was bolstered.

It was also during the Amarna Period and its immediate aftermath that the first traces of Sety’s family can be found. An Egyptian commissioner and military officer named Sjuta appears in two of the Amarna Letters – diplomatic missives sent to and from the Egyptian court by rulers of other great powers in the Near East or by Egyptian vassal states. This name appears to be a corrupted version of the Egyptian name ‘Sety’.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Issue 103 من Ancient Egypt.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Issue 103 من Ancient Egypt.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من ANCIENT EGYPT مشاهدة الكل
INSIDE THE STEP PYRAMID OF DJOSER
Ancient Egypt

INSIDE THE STEP PYRAMID OF DJOSER

Sean McLachlan explores the recently reopened interior of this iconic Third Dynasty Saqqara monument.

time-read
2 mins  |
July/ August 2021
PER MESUT: for younger readers
Ancient Egypt

PER MESUT: for younger readers

She Who Loves Silence

time-read
4 mins  |
July/ August 2021
Highlights of the Manchester Museum 29: An Offering by Queen Tiye for her Husband
Ancient Egypt

Highlights of the Manchester Museum 29: An Offering by Queen Tiye for her Husband

Campbell Price describes an offering table with a touching significance.

time-read
2 mins  |
July/ August 2021
Highlights Of The Manchester Museum 28: Busts Of Jesse And Marianne Haworth
Ancient Egypt

Highlights Of The Manchester Museum 28: Busts Of Jesse And Marianne Haworth

Campbell Price describes the significance of two statue busts on display in the Museum.

time-read
2 mins  |
May / June 2021
TAKABUTI, the Belfast Mummy
Ancient Egypt

TAKABUTI, the Belfast Mummy

Rosalie David and Eileen Murphy explain how scientific examination of the ‘Belfast Mummy’ is revealing much new information about her life and times.

time-read
9 mins  |
May / June 2021
Lost Golden City
Ancient Egypt

Lost Golden City

An Egyptian Mission searching for the mortuary temple of Tutankhamun has discovered a settlement – “The Dazzling of Aten” – described as the largest city ever found in Egypt (see above). Finds bearing the cartouches of Amenhotep III (see opposite, top) date the settlement to his reign, c. 1390-1352 BC – making it about 3400 years old.

time-read
2 mins  |
May / June 2021
Jerusalem's Survival, Sennacharib's Departure and the Kushite Role in 701 BCE: An Examination of Henry Aubin's Rescue of Jerusalem
Ancient Egypt

Jerusalem's Survival, Sennacharib's Departure and the Kushite Role in 701 BCE: An Examination of Henry Aubin's Rescue of Jerusalem

BOOK REVIEWS

time-read
2 mins  |
May / June 2021
Golden Mummies of Egypt: Interpreting Identities from the Graeco-Roman Period by Campbell Price
Ancient Egypt

Golden Mummies of Egypt: Interpreting Identities from the Graeco-Roman Period by Campbell Price

BOOK REVIEWS

time-read
2 mins  |
May / June 2021
Old And New Kingdom Discoveries At Saqqara
Ancient Egypt

Old And New Kingdom Discoveries At Saqqara

An Egyptian team working on a Sixth Dynasty pyramid complex near the Teti pyramid at Saqqara has made a series of important discoveries.

time-read
1 min  |
March / April 2021
Map Of Egypt
Ancient Egypt

Map Of Egypt

What’s in a name? It is easy for us to forget that the names we associate with the pyramids – such as the Meidum Pyramid, the Bent Pyramid or the Black Pyramid – would have been meaningless to their builders.

time-read
3 mins  |
March / April 2021