New Kingdom
Merneptah (Baenre)
19th Dynasty · 1295-1186 BCE
Open full-size illustration →Source: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Background
Merneptah took the throne only after outliving twelve older brothers, and his short reign is remembered largely for a single monument, the Merneptah Stele, whose closing lines contain the earliest known Egyptian reference to a people called Israel. Research: UCL Digital Egypt; Biblical Archaeology Society.
Reign dates: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Full profile
The 13th son
Merneptah was the 13th son of Ramesses II. Because his father lived to be around 90 years old, Merneptah outlived his 12 older brothers and took the throne as an elderly man.
Defending the borders and the Israel stele
His reign required immediate military action to defend Egypt's borders. He successfully crushed a massive invasion by Libyan forces under King Meryey in the western delta. To commemorate this victory, he erected a monument known today as the Merneptah Stele. The final lines of this text briefly document his military campaigns in Canaan and contain the earliest known historical reference to a people called Israel.
A single disputed line
The relevant hieroglyphic group is written with a determinative marking it as a people rather than a settled territory, which is why most scholars translate the line as describing a group called Israel being defeated rather than a place being conquered. Not every Egyptologist accepts that reading, and the stele's brief, formulaic phrasing has kept the exact interpretation debated for over a century. Merneptah himself died an elderly man, apparently suffering from arthritis and hardened arteries; his mummy was not found in his own tomb, KV8, but among the cache of royal mummies discovered inside Amenhotep II's tomb, KV35, in 1898.
Sources for this profile
- Baker, D. D. (2008). The Encyclopedia of the Pharaohs: Volume 1. Stacey International.
- Shaw, I. (Ed.). (2000). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press.
- University College London. Kings of the New Kingdom.
- Reeves, N., & Wilkinson, R. H. (1996). The Complete Valley of the Kings. Thames & Hudson.
- Dodson, A., & Hilton, D. (2004). The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson.
The complete, APA-formatted reference list is on the Academic Sources & Bibliography page.