Ramesside Inscriptions: Translations Setnakht, Ramesses III and Contemporaries

Based on the hieroglyphic texts of the Ramesside Age of Ancient Egypt (c.1300–1100 BC), the books in this series present a modern English translation of the vast majority of historical sources for this important epoch of Egyptian history. This volume covers a period of turmoil in the early twelfth century BC (c.1185–1155 BC). It includes the vast majority of inscriptions from the 31 year reign of Ramesses III, pharaoh of Egypt from the early twelfth century BC, a period of turmoil and massive upheaval in the political, social, and cultural maps of the neighbouring early Aegean and ancient Near East. Many of the texts included have been translated into English for the first time in this volume. Inscriptions range from the great calendar of festivals for the pharaoh’s temple in western Thebes, to the state trial documents for the conspiracy against the old king’s life, and immensely detailed official and personal records from a community of special workmen who cut and decorated the royal tombs in the Valleys of the Kings and Queens.

K. A. Kitchen is a retired Professor of Egyptology in the University of Liverpool, where he taught for over 30 years. During that time, he worked extensively in Egypt, recording the texts for the hieroglyphic edition of Ramesside Inscriptions, I–VIII (Blackwell, 1969–1990), which is the basis for the Translations and Notes and Comments volumes now being issued. He has also produced a major book on Egyptian chronology for later Egypt (1100–650 BC), a classic popular ′Life and Times′ of Ramesses II, and a comprehensive Catalogue of the notable Egyptian collection in Rio de Janeiro; other books on archaeology and the Bible; and the first of a series on Ancient (pre–Islamic) Arabia.

“The present work, abbreviated here as RITA V, constitutes another highly anticipated and most welcome addition to Prof. Kitchen′s series on translations of Ramesside inscriptions.” ( Lingua Aegyptia , May 2009)