Seti I

Seti I was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt (Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt), the son of Rameses I and Queen Sitre and, later, the father of Rameses II. According to some historians, he reigned between either 1294 BC or 1290 BC to 1279 BC or 1305/1302 BC to 1290 BC, depending on the chronological system used. The ancient Egyptians counted time according to the year of a Pharaoh's reign. When a Pharaoh died or fell from the throne, the follwing day immediatedly became Year number 1 of his successor's reign. To identify Seti I's Year 1 with a specific BC year, a chronologist must not only take into account the existing evidence from various sources, but which set of interpretations that he/she finds valid, so different chronologists and historians can have different views on the subject.

Reign

In Year 7 of his reign, Seti may have established his son Rameses II as his successor but the evidence for a coregency between the two kings is weak and probably illusory. William Murnane, the great Egyptologist who wrote a seminal book titled "Ancient Egyptian Coregencies" in 1977 on the Egyptian coregency system, later discounted the idea of a coregency between Seti I and his son prior to his death in 2000. Throughout his reign, Ramesses celebrated the anniversary of his accession to power. This anniversary is III Shemu day 27 which was close in time to his father's own accession date. There have been finds dating up to Year 11 of Seti's reign but he must have enjoyed a very brief Regnal Year 12 because his Highest known date was Year 11, IV Shemu 20 but his accession date has been determined by J. Von Beckerath, to be between III Shemu day 24-27.

Related Topics:
William Murnane - Egyptologist - 1977 - Von Beckerath

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Seti I's reign length was either 11 or 15 Full Years. While the Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen believes that it was 15 years, circumstantial evidence currently suggests that the shorter figure is the right one. There are no dates known for Seti I after his 11th Year which is significant if he enjoyed a reign of 15 Years because he is quite well documented(and dated) in the monumental record. A continouos break in the dated record for his Year 12, 13, 14 and Year 15 is unlikely. More importantly, Peter Brand in a JARCE 34(1997) pp.101-114 paper titled "The 'Lost' Obelisks and Colossi of Seti I," noted that the king personally opened new rock quarries at Aswan to build obelisks and colossal statues in his Year 9. This event is commemorated on two rock stelas. However, most of Seti's obelisks and statues — such as the Flaminian and Luxor obelisks were only partly finished or decorated by the time of his death since they were completed early under his son's reign. Brand aptly observes that this evidence calls into question the idea of a long 15 Year reign for Seti I and suggests that "Seti died after a ten to eleven year reign" because only two Years would have then passed between the opening of the Rock Quarries and the partial completion and decoration of these monuments.(Brand., op. cit., p.114) This explanation fits well with the evidence of the unfinished state of Seti II's monuments and the fact that Ramesses II had to complete the decorations on "many of his father's unfinished monuments, including the southern half of the Hypostyle Hall at Karnak and portions of his father's temples at Gurnah and Abydos" during the very first Year of his own reign.(Brand, op. cit., p.107)

Related Topics:
Kenneth Kitchen - Peter Brand - JARCE - Aswan - Flaminian - Luxor - Ramesses II - Karnak

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After the enormous social disturbances generated by Akhenaten's religious reform, Horemheb's, Rameses I's and Seti I's main purpose was to re-establish order in the kingdom and to reaffirm Egypt's sovereignty over Canaan and Syria, which had been compromised by the increasing external pressures from the Hittites state. Seti, with energy and determination, confronted the Hittites several times in battle. Without succeeding in destroying the Hittites as a potent danger to Egypt, he reconquered most of the disputed territories for Egypt and generally concluded his military campaigns with victories. The memory of such enterprises was perpetuated by some large pictures placed on the front of the temple of Amon, situated in Karnak. A funerary temple for Seti was constructed on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes. A further temple was also built at Abydos, which was started by Seti, and completed by his son. His capital was at Memphis. He was considered a great king, but his fame has been overshadowed since ancient times by that of his son Rameses II.

Related Topics:
Akhenaten - Horemheb - Canaan - Syria - Hittites - Amon - Karnak - Nile - Thebes - Abydos - Memphis

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Abydos is not in the Valley of the Kings.

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