page_title: History of ancient Egypt
section_title: Nineteenth Dynasty
hierarchical_section_title: History of ancient Egypt / Dynastic Egypt / New Kingdom / Nineteenth Dynasty
caption_attribution_description: English: This image is a zoomed-in version of Eastern Hemisphere in 1300 BC. thumb|300px|left|Eastern Hemisphere in 1300 BC. Author: Thomas A. Lessman. Source URL: http://www.ThomasLessman.com/History/images/East-Hem_1300bc.jpg. Image was created by me (Thomas Lessman) based on map of Eastern Hemisphere in 1300 BC. Image is free for educational use. I would appreciate a mention if this image is used elsewhere. If anyone is interested in helping further this work, please contact Thomas Lessman at talessman@yis.us. Other Historical Maps by Thomas Lessman 1. 500 BC. 2. 323 BC. 3. 200 BC. 4. 100 BC. 5. 050 BC. 6.001 AD. 7. 050 AD. 8. 100 AD. 9. 200 AD. 10. 300 AD. 11. 400 AD. 12. 475 AD. 13. 476 AD. 14. 477 AD. 15. 500 AD. 16. 565 AD. 17. 600 AD. 18. 700 AD. 19. 800 AD. 20. 900 AD. 21. 1025 AD. 22. 1100 AD. 23. 1200 AD.
context_page_description: The history of ancient Egypt spans the period from the early prehistoric settlements of the northern Nile valley to the Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 BC. The pharaonic period, the period in which Egypt was ruled by a pharaoh, is dated from the 32nd century BC, when Upper and Lower Egypt were unified, until the country fell under Macedonian rule in 332 BC.
context_section_description: Ramesses I reigned for two years and was succeeded by his son Seti I.  Seti I carried on the work of Horemheb in restoring power, control, and respect to Egypt. He also was responsible for creating the temple complex at Abydos.
  Arguably Ancient Egypt's power as a nation-state peaked during the reign of Ramesses II ("the Great") of the Nineteenth Dynasty. He reigned for 67 years from the age of 18 and carried on his father Seti I's work and created many more splendid temples, such as that of Abu Simbel temples on the Nubian border. He sought to recover territories in the Levant that had been held by the Eighteenth Dynasty. His campaigns of reconquest culminated in the Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BC, where he led Egyptian armies against those of the Hittite king Muwatalli II and was caught in history's first recorded military ambush.
  Ramesses II was famed for the huge number of children he sired by his various wives and concubines; the tomb he built for his sons (many of whom he outlived) in the Valley of the Kings has proven to be the largest funerary complex in Egypt.
  His immediate successors continued the military campaigns, though an increasingly troubled court complicated matters. Ramesses II was succeeded by his son Merneptah and then by Merenptah's son Seti II. Seti II's throne seems to have been disputed by his half-brother Amenmesse, who may have temporarily ruled from Thebes.
  Upon his death, Seti II's son Siptah, who may have been afflicted with poliomyelitis during his life, was appointed to the throne by Chancellor Bay, a West Asian commoner who served as vizier behind the scenes. At Siptah's early death, the throne was assumed by Twosret, the queen dowager of Seti II and possibly Amenmesse's sister.
  A period of anarchy at the end of Twosret's short reign saw a native reaction to foreign control leading to the execution of Bay and the enthronement of Setnakhte, establishing the Twentieth Dynasty.
caption: Egypt and its world in 1300 BC.
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