Papyrus Paintings depicting Egyptian Pharaohs and
Egyptian Kings
Egyptian Art of Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs and Kings.
Many of these figures have been copied by artists from
original paintings found on many Egyptian tomb walls
and pyramid walls.
These beautiful works of art are available to purchase
from Egyptian Dreams, a company specialising in supplying
gifts
from Ancient Egypt.
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Hand
Painted Papyrus of Egyptian King Seti I
Seti I was the son of Ramesses I and Queen Sitre. Like
his father before him, Seti was a good military leader.
He plundered Palestine and brought Damascus back into
Egyptian control. He reconciled with the Hittites who
were becoming the most powerful state in the region.
Seti I and his heir, Ramesses II campaigned against
Kadesh. In Karnak he completed his father's plan by
converting the court between the second and third pylons
into a vast hypostyle hall. He built his vast mortuary
complex at Abydos. In Thebes, he built his tomb, located
in the Valley of the Kings. Cut 300 feet into the cliffs,
it was the largest tomb in the area. Buried with him
were over 700 Shabti. These were carved stone or wooden
figures that were to accompany him to the afterlife
to comply with the requests from the gods.
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Hand
Painted Papyrus of The Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II
Called Ramesses the Great, he lived for 96 years. It is
believed that he had as many as fifty sons and fifty daughters,
though only a few of them are known to us. His chief,
and most likely favorite wife was Nefertari. In the seventh
year of his father's (Seti I) reign, Ramesses II became
co-ruler of Egypt. Ramesses II and his father began many
restoration and building projects. These included the
building of several temples and the restoration of other
shrines and complexes throughout Egypt. He built a mortuary
complex at Abydos in honor of Osiris and the famed Ramesseum.
Having outlived many of his older sons, his 13th son ascended
to the throne upon his death in 1298 B.C.E.
Also known as Ramses II
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Hand
Painted Papyrus of The Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses III
Little is known of the private life of Ramesses III (1186-1154
BC), but he is often regarded as the last of the great
ancient Egyptian warrior kings. He married a woman called
Isis, who was probably his first wife, and he also maintained
large harems and kept subsidiary wives, who bore him many
children.
The king's life was dominated by a series of violent
events, one of which was caused by a secondary wife
called Tiy, who hoped to secure the throne of Egypt
for her son, Pentaweret. Tiy plotted to assassinate
her husband, but the attempt failed. Ancient texts referring
to this `harem conspiracy` indicate that many individuals
were put on trial for their involvement in the crime.
The protagonists who were found guilty were forced to
commit suicide, or were sentenced to public executions.
Ramesses III was heavily influenced by another New
Kingdom ruler, Ramesses the Great, whose policies he
clearly emulated. Ramesses III erected buildings at
many sites throughout Egypt - the most famous edifice
being the mortuary temple, Medinet Habu, near the Valley
of the Kings. Temple resources were falling into a state
of decline by this period, however, and Ramesses III
was unable to imitate the magnificent building programmes
undertaken by other New Kingdom kings.
Ramesses III continued to develop diplomatic connections;
he sent expeditions to the mining regions on the borders
of Egypt and engaged in trade with foreigners. His reign,
however, was often over-shadowed by a sense of political
and economic unease, and Egypt became involved in a
series of skirmishes. The Libyans lay siege to the western
Delta, and the country was also invaded by a group of
foreigners known as the Sea Peoples. The soldiers of
Ramesses III engaged the Sea People in a number of battles
both on land and on ships in the river mouths of the
Delta - and eventually succeeded in defeating them.
Ramesses III died after a reign of 33 years, probably
aged around 65 years old. It is thought that he died
of natural causes, and x-ray examinations of his mummified
body revealed that he suffered from arteriosclerosis.
His body is well preserved, and was the inspiration
for the character played by Boris Karloff in the film
The Mummy. He was buried in Tomb 11 in the Valley of
the Kings, and his son Ramesses IV succeeded him.
Also Known as Ramses III
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Hand
Painted Papyrus of Tutankhamun
King Nebkheperura Tutankhamun is probably the most famous
of all the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, yet he was a short
lived and fairly insignificant ruler during a transitional
period in history.
Little was known of him prior to Howard Carter's methodical
detective work, but the discovery of his tomb and the
amazing contents it held ultimately ensured this boy
king of the Immortality he sought.
It is believed that Akhenaten and a lesser wife named
Kiya were the parents of Tutankhaten, as Tutankhamun
was known at first.
Soon after the deaths of Akhenaten and Smenkhkare,
Tutankhaten became a Boy King at the age of about nine.
He married a slightly older Ankhesenpaaten, one of the
daughters of Akhenaten and Nefertiti.
After the ousting of the Aten power base they changed
their names to Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun to reflect
the return to favour of the Amun hierarchy.
Due to his young age, Tutankhamun would not have been
responsible for the real decision making. This would
have been handled by two high officials, Ay (possibly
the father of Nefertiti) and Horemheb, commander-in-chief
of the army.
Sometime around the ninth year of Tutankhamun's reign,
possibly 1325 B.C., he died. There is evidence of an
injury to the skull that had time to partly heal. He
may have suffered an accident, such as falling from
his horse-drawn chariot, or perhaps he was murdered.
No one knows. Ay oversaw Tutankhamun's burial arrangements
which lasted 70 days.
Due to Tutankhamun having no heirs, Ay became Pharaoh
and took Ankhesenamun as his queen to legitimise his
rule. What happened to her after that is not known.
Ay ruled for only four years and after his death Horemheb
grabbed power. He soon obliterated evidence of the reigns
of Akhenaten, Tutankhamun and Ay and substituted his
own name on many monuments.
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Hand
Painted Papyrus of the Female Pharaoh Hatshepsut
Hatshepsut was the female pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty.
For a woman to rule Egypt for over 20 years was extremely
unusual.
She was the daughter of Tuthmosis I and was married
to her half-brother, Tuthmosis II. On his untimely death,
his heir was his son by a secondary wife, but as the
young Tuthmosis III was still a child, Hatshepsut became
regent and ruled on his behalf for about seven years,
before proclaiming herself king and ruling jointly with
him for a further 14 years.
Although she was a woman, she projected her official
image as that of a pharaoh and even wore the royal false
beard.
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