Piramesse

Middle Kingdom royal statues frequently exhibit physical evidence that attests to their renewed integration into later contexts within the two millennia of pharaonic culture that followed their creation. Reuse is a pervasive phenomenon in ancient Egypt, and the particular character of any reuse is certainly inflected by both period attitudes and locale—
that is, by what is available for a given location. From a modern vantage point, the two are difficult to disentangle.
The site of Tanis in the Nile Delta offers something of an exception: an opportunity to take an unusually clear sounding of many of the circumstances around reuse in its region through at least the Third Intermediate Period.

Semitic toponyms in the Wadi Tumilat, which mostly date to the Late Ramesside Period, are an indication that this region was inhabited at that time by a western Semitic population. They may have been survivors of the Hyksos Period even though the syllabic writing and the chronology of the toponyms indicate that they may better be identified with settled Shasu nomads, such as mentioned in Papyrus Anastasi VI, who came from the region of Edom seeking “temporary” permission to stay in the Wadi in order to keep their flocks alive. With some caution some of them may be considered as Proto-Israelites with the understanding that the ethnogenesis of these people had not yet been terminated. Because of the toponym Gsm and other reasons, the Wadi can be identified as the biblical land of Goshen.
A complete four-room-house and a part of another one had been found in the precinct of the temple of Aya and Horemheb in western Thebes. According to the excavators from the University of Chicago these buildings were shelters for workmen who had to quarry from this temple building material for a nearby temple project of Ramses IV. Most likely they were also Shasu-nomades, former prisoners of war, captured during a campaign by Ramses III in the region of Seïr (Papyrus Harris I.76: 9–11). This is more or less the same region from which the Shasu, mentioned in papyrus Anastasi VI, came from and at the same time a region where, according to the Bible, the Lord came forth (Deut. 33:2; Judg. 5:4; Habakuk 3:3). The four-room-house appears at the same time at the end of the 13th and the 12th century BC in Canaan and is considered to be the prototypical house of the Israelites until the Babylonian Exile. It was at least in use in the 12th century BC by carriers of the same Iron Age I culture as the Proto-Israelites.
The settling places of the early Israelites at Goshen and Ramses were in all likelihood not identical but two different regions, one in the Wadi Tumilat and the other in the environment of the Delta residence of the Ramses- sides: Piramesse. The two regions were not well connected in the geographic conditions of that time. Therefore, at least two different realistic Exodus scenarios can be offered. One during the ascent of the founder of the 20th Dynasty Sethnakht who came to power against an opposition which seems to have bought the support of Near- Easteners. Here the exit route from the Ramses Town along the easternmost Nile branch to the north-west and the crossing of the predecessor of the Ballah Lakes can be offered. A second scenario could be reconstructed in the time after the invasion of the Sea Peoples and the loss of the province of Canaan under Ramses III. This king conducted at that time substantive defensive constructions at Tell er-Retaba, a site with a temple of Atum, and therefore can be identified with the second major biblical town in Egypt Pithom. It seems therefore likely that local settlers, among them former Shasu nomads, were recruited for such works in this otherwise thinly settled area. As a second Exodus route for unhappy recruits, one may identify the track to the east and through the Timsah Lake and finally to the south Sinai. The period of Ramses III and his successors would also fit to the absence of meeting Egyptians after the crossing of the Sea of Reeds in the narrative of the Exodus as the province of Canaan had been abandoned by the Egyptians latest in the second part of the 12th century BC. This is the most likely period of settlement in Canaan and would explain the prolonged time of wandering.
The combination of Egyptian toponyms mentioned in the books Genesis and Exodus and the geographic context have the likeliest fitting in the Ramesside geography of the eastern Delta. Later editorial input also brings Late Period concepts into the picture; nevertheless, the Ramesside context remains still clearly recognizable.

Die Geschichte des Alten Ägypten Teil II. Das Imperiale Ägypten: Die Geschichte des Neuen Reiches und der dritten Zwischenzeit. Eine der umfangreichsten historischen Darstellungen des Neuen Reiches und der daran anschließenden ersten Hälfte der 3. Zwischenzeit. Beginnend mit der Vertreibung der Fremdherrscher entsteht um 1550 v. Chr. das Neue Reich. Das Buch behandelt die grandiosen Bauprojekte und Feldzüge, welche aus Ägypten eine Weltmacht der damaligen Zeit machten. Ausführlich wird von der Puntexpedition der Königin Hatschepsut und den Feldzügen des Thutmosis III. berichtet. Die seit 2014 erneut vermutete Koregentschaft von Amenhotep III. und Echnaton werfen ein neues Licht auf die Amarnazeit und den ersten Monotheismus der Menschheitsgeschichte. Eine neue Theorie vermutet, daß es unentdeckte Kammern im Grab von Tutanchamun geben könnte. Sind weitere märchenhafte Schätze zu entdecken? Die Schlacht von Kadesch und die Herrschaft von Ramses II. prägten die Ramessidenzeit (19. Dynastie). Die komplexe Dreieckbeziehung zwischen König Siptah, Kanzler Baj und Königin Tausret wird detailliert besprochen, ebenso wie der langsame Niedergang der Königsmacht in der 20. Dynastie, dessen letzter großer Herrscher Ramses III. die Invasion der Seevölker abwehren konnte. Das Fremde Ägypten: Die Geschichte der Spätzeit. Der letzte Teil behandelt die Spätzeit ab der 26. Dynastie, das Königreich von Kusch, die Herrschaft der Ptolemäer in Ägypten welche 30 v. Chr. mit dem Tod von Kleopatra VII. endet. Die zeitweise parallele Kultur von Kusch wird ebenso detailliert vorgestellt. Der letzte Teil behandelt zudem die Nachwirkung des Alten Ägypten bis in unsere Zeit. Zahlreiche Abbildungen und Literaturangaben.
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In May 27-29 1996 the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem hosted the symposion "Capital Cities: Urban Planning and Spiritual Dimensions". It accompanied the exhibition "City of the Bible" held in the same museum. This article features the results of excavations of the royal horse stables (Site QIV) of Piramesses, Capital of Ramesside Egypt, which is situated in the vicinity of and beneath the modern settlement Qantir, approximately 100 km north of Cairo and 80 km west of Ismaelia on the Suez Canal. Piramesses is believed to be identical with the biblical city "Ramesses", due to the Holy Scripture the starting point of the Exodus.

The significance of wine in the divine cult and as a special favor during festivities, as well as a marker of desirable lifestyle can be observed throughout the entire ancient Egyptian history. Production of wine was determined mostly by royal estate or by donations to institutions and temple estates. When looking at wine production during the Ramesside period with consideration of the eastern Delta, one can see that especially trained staff was hired. These chief gardeners acted as supervisors for complete wine-growing estates. As an example, the paper deals with the duties, responsibilities and the social ranking of a chief gardener of Syrian origin named Ibager who lived during the times of Ramesses II. There are two sources documenting his existence. One is a docket of a wine amphora, the other a well done shabti of faience. Both are the subject of an explicit examination.

Qantir-Piramesses, capital of Ramesside Egypt, is known for its vast workshops connected to the production of weapons and chariot equipment. This article provides the reader with a detailed study of the manufacturing of two pairs of ancient horse bits - metallurgical data included

During the Ramesside Period the newly founded city of Piramesse in the Nile Delta had a prominent position within the settlements of Egypt and it has often been referred to as royal residence or capital of the country. But what does that mean and which role and function did the city really have within the framework of the Egyptian state of the later New Kingdom?
The lecture will discuss these questions focusing on archaeological evidence from the site, including architectural remains but also texts, which shed light on the functions of people living and/or working at Piramesse.

As a residential city of Ramesside Egypt the population of Piramesse was large. Furthermore it was the working place of a significant part of the Egyptian elite. No need speculating the number of inhabitants, it is clear that it was not only a place where people lived but also where they died. But where were the dead buried? Some tombs have been discovered and stray finds of funerary nature were found all over the site. But there is a notable absence of funerary goods and archaeological features which can be connected to the elite such as high ranking officials. Most of these were obviously buried elsewhere in places such as Saqqara or Thebes but also provincial towns as in the case of Sedment, the necropolis of Heracleopolis.
The lecture will in the first place present the archaeological evidence for burials at Qantir-Piramesse. In the second place an outline will be given on where people known to have held office at Piramesse were buried. Based on the results potential reasons will be discussed.