home | travelogue | itinerary | photos | history | books
   

 

Titulary what's this?
Horus Name Kanakht Meryre
Nebty Name Userkhepesh-hedhefenu
Golden Horus Name

Werpehtisankhtawy-ityankhwedjaseneb-seheribmaat-seheteptawy

Praenomen

Menmaatre-setpenptah "The justice of Re remains, Chosen of Ptah"

Nomen Ramesses-Khamwaset-meryamun-netjerheqaiunu "Appearing in Thebes, Beloved of Amun, God, Ruler of Heliopolis" or "Born of Re, Appearing in Waset, Chosen of Ptah, Beloved of Amun, Ruler of Iunu"
   
Manetho  
King Lists  
Alternate Names  
Dates what's this?
AEOrg 1100-1070
egyptsite 1099-1069
piccione 1098-1070
von beckerath 1103/1099-1070/69
grimal 1098-1069
malek 1099-1069
redford 1111-1087
dodson 1094-1064
arnold 1100-1070
gardiner 1114-1087
Succession
Predecessor Father, Ramesses X
Successor Smendes
Associated People
Father Ramesses X
Mother Queen Titi
Daughter Henuttawy
Burial Place
Rock cut tomb in Thebes, Valley of the Kings, KV 4, unfinished
Monuments
unknown
History

Ramesses XI ruled from Tanis in the Delta and during his reign it appears that priests of the Temple of Amun in Thebes took control of that region. Ramesses was not a very energetic ruler, and often sent his generals or viceroys to manage troubled areas in Egypt.

It is likely that Ramesses XI did not rule over a united Egypt. The land was fragmented and quite poor at this time, and he may have been rule of only a small part of Egypt, sharing the role with Herihor (the son of his general Piankh) in the north. Ramesses held little control over his own government -- most envoys sent to Thebes tended to end up in control, despite the pharaoh. Civil war in Egypt broke out in the 17-19th year of Ramesses XI's reign, with Nubian troops marching north to regain Thebes under the command of Piankh (who may have started the campaign himself, or at the behest of the pharaoh). The high priest of Amun was besieged at Medinet Habu.

Herihor and Smendes (the first pharaoh of the 21st Dynasty) divided up the power in Egypt and ruled as de-facto kings while Ramesses XI remained in seclusion. Technically, they still reported to Ramesses until he died, but it was a courtesy only. Ramesses' death ended the 20th dynasty and the Ramesside period.

Once again, famine ravaged Egypt. It was referenced as the "Year of the Hyena" in contemporary writings.

Ramesses XI's tomb was not finished, and may have been used for storage or a workshop where some of the older mummies were moved during the end of the 20th Dynasty, when the vandalizing of the tombs was at its height. The tomb has been open since antiquity, and sports demotic, Egyptian, Greek, Latin, Coptic, French, and English graffiti. It was also used as a residence and a stable during the christian period, a storeroom by Howard Carter, and a dining hall while the workers excavated the tomb of Tutankhamun.

The tomb is barely decorated, with images in only on the door between the entrance hall and first corridor. The corridor itself is plastered and the image of the planned decoration are outlined in red (uncorrected versions drawn by apprentices).

This was the last royal tomb to be dug in the Valley of the Kings.

 

 

pharaohs

Sethnakht
Ramesses III
Ramesses IV
Ramesses V
Ramesses VI
Ramesses VII
Ramesses VIII
Ramesses IX
Ramesses X
Ramesses XI

monuments

Tomb KV 4, Valley of the Kings