Rameses I

The principle of electing a non-royal heir was adopted by Horemheb and the early Ramessid mlers, the first of whom was appointed by Horemheb as prince regent during his lifetime with much the same titles as he himself had held under Tutankhamun. This man, Para-messu, acted as Horemheb’s vizier as well as holding a number of military titles including that of commander of the fortress of Sile, an important stronghold on the landbridge connecting the Egyptian Delta with Syria-Palestine. The role assigned to Paramessu once more reveals Horemheb’s preoccupation with the military situation in Egypt’s northern territories. Paramessu’s family came from Avaris, the former capital of the Hyksos, and the role of its local god Seth, who had retained strong connections with the Canaanite god Ba'al, appears to have been comparable with that of Horns of Hutnesu in Horemheb’s career. In the light of this it is interesting to observe that Horem-heb built a temple for Seth at Avaris. The Ramessid royal family considered the god Seth to be their royal ancestor, and an obelisk (originally from Heliopolis), recently discovered, on the seabed off the coast of Alexandria, shows Sety I as a sphinx with the head of the Seth-animal offering to Ra-Atum.

When Horemheb died, apparently childless, Paramessu succeeded him as Rameses I (1295-1294 bc). With him began a new dynasty, the 19th, although there is some evidence to suggest that the Ramessid pharaohs considered Horemheb as the true founder of the dynasty. Rameses I must have been old when he mounted the throne, since his son and probably also his grandson had already been born before his accession. During his short reign (barely one year), and maybe even before, his son Sety was appointed vizier and commander of Sile but also held a number of priestly titles linking him with various gods worshipped in the Delta, including that of high priest of Seth. In his Coronation Text Horemheb had mentioned that he had equipped the newly reopened temples with priests ‘from the pick of the army’, providing them with fields and cattle. From other documents we know that retired soldiers were often given a priestly office and some land in their native towns, so Sety may also not have been particularly young when his father mounted the throne.