Editing Ramesses VII

{{Short description|Ancient Egyptian sixth pharaoh of the 20th dynasty}}
{{Infobox pharaoh
| name           = Ramesses VII
| alt_name       = Ramses VII, Rameses VII
| image          = Tomb KV1 Ramesses VII Lepsius.jpg
| ImageSize      = 
| image_alt      =
| caption        = Ramesses VII from tomb KV1, drawn by [[Karl Richard Lepsius]]
| role           =
| reign          = c. 1136&ndash;1129 BC
| dynasty        = [[Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt|20th&nbsp;Dynasty]]
| coregency      =
| predecessor    = [[Ramesses VI]]
| successor      = [[Ramesses VIII]]

| notes          =
| prenomen       = Usermaatre Setepenre Meriamun<br>''Wsr-m3ˁ.t-Rˁ-stp-n-Rˁ-mr.j-Jmn''<br>''Rich in [[Maat]] like [[Ra]], the chosen one of Ra, beloved of Amun''<br><hiero>M23:t-L2:t-<-N5-F12-C12-N5-U21:N35-U6-></hiero>
| prenomen_hiero = 
| nomen          = Ramesisu Itiamun Netjerheqaiunu <br> ''Rˁ-msj-sw-jt.j-Jmn-nṯr-ḥq3-Jwnw'' <br> ''Ra has fashioned him, his father is Amun, god of [[Heliopolis (Ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]]'' 
| nomen_hiero    = <hiero>N5-C12-F31-O34:O34-M17-X1-R8-S38-O28</hiero>
| horus          = Kanakht Anemnesu <br /> ''K3-nḫt-ˁn-m-ns.w'' <br /> ''Strong bull, magnificent of royalty''
| horus_hiero    = <hiero>E2-D40:D36-N35:D6-G17-M23-A42</hiero>
| horus_prefix   = <!-- Default is <hiero>G5</hiero> -->
| nebty          = Mekkemet Wafkhastiu <br /> ''Mk-Kmt-wˁf-ḫ3st.jw'' <br /> ''Protector of Egypt, he who vainquishes the foreigners''
| nebty_hiero    = <hiero>G17-D36:V31:Y1-I6:X1*O49-G43-D36:I9:V1-Y1V-A24-N25:X1*Z1-T14-A1-B1-Z3-N25</hiero>
| golden         = Userrenput-mi-Amum<br>''Wsr-rnp.wt-mj-Jtm''<br>''The golden falcon, rich in years like [[Atum]]''
| golden_hiero   = <hiero>F12-M4*M4*M4-W19-C12</hiero>

| spouse         =
| children       = Ramesses
| father         = [[Ramesses VI]]
| mother         = [[Nubkhesbed]]
| birth_date     =
| death_date     = 1129 BC
| burial         = [[KV1]]
| monuments      = 
}}

Usermaatre Setepenre Meryamun '''Ramesses VII''' (also written '''Ramses''' and '''Rameses''') was the sixth [[pharaoh]] of the [[Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt|20th Dynasty]] of [[Ancient Egypt]]. He reigned from about 1136 to 1129&nbsp;BC<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Shaw |editor-first=Ian |title=The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt |year=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-815034-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordhisto00shaw/page/481 481] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordhisto00shaw/page/481 }}</ref> and was the son of [[Ramesses VI]]. Other dates for his reign are 1138–1131&nbsp;BC.<ref>Erik Hornung, Rolf Krauss & David Warburton (editors), Handbook of Ancient Egyptian Chronology (Handbook of Oriental Studies), Brill: 2006, p.493</ref> The Turin Accounting Papyrus 1907+1908 is dated to Year 7 III Shemu day 26 of his reign and has been reconstructed to show that 11 full years passed from Year 5 of Ramesses VI to Year 7 of his reign.<ref>Raphael Ventura, "More Chronological Evidence from Turin Papyrus Cat.1907+1908," JNES 42, Vol.4 (1983), pp.271-277</ref>

==Reign length==
[[File:Ramesses VII’s KVI tomb in February 2019.jpg|thumb|Sarcophagus and Tomb of Ramesses VII's [[KV1]] tomb]]
Ramesses VII's seventh year is also attested in Ostraca O. Strasbourg h 84, which is dated to II [[Season of the Harvest|Shemu]] day 16 of his 7th Regnal Year.<ref>Jac Janssen, JEA 52 (1966), p.91 n.2</ref> In 1980, C.J. Eyre demonstrated that a Year 8 papyrus belonged to the reign of Ramesses VII. This papyrus, P. Turin Cat. 1883 + 2095, dated to ''Year 8 IV Shemu day 25'' (most likely Ramesses VII), details the record of the commissioning of some copper work and mentions two foremen at [[Deir el-Medina|Deir El-Medina]]: Nekhemmut and Hor[mose].<ref>C.J. Eyre, The reign-length of Ramesses Vii, JEA 66 (1980), pp.168-170</ref><ref>Dominique Valbelle, Les Ouvriers de la tombe: Deir el-Médineh à l'époque Ramesside, 1985. note 8</ref> The foreman Hormose was previously attested in office only during the reign of [[Ramesses IX]] while his father and predecessor in this post—a certain Ankherkhau—served in office from the second decade of the reign of Ramesses III through to Year 4 of Ramesses VII, where he is shown acting with Nekhemmut and the scribe Horisheri.<ref>Eyre, pp.168-170</ref> The new Year 8 papyrus proves that Hormose succeeded to his father's office as foreman by Year 8 of Ramesses VII. Dominique Valbelle regards C.J. Eyre's attribution of this document to Ramesses VII as uncertain since the chief workman Hormose was previously only securely attested in office in Years 6 and 7 of [[Ramesses IX]] instead.<ref>Dominique Valbelle, Les Ouvriers de la tombe: Deir el-Médineh à l'époque Ramesside, 1985. note 8</ref> However, this papyrus clearly bears the cartouche of Usermaatre Setepenre—the [[Prenomen (Ancient Egypt)|prenomen]] of Ramesses VII—at its beginning whereas the royal name of [[Ramesses IX]] was Neferkare—which rules out Ramesses IX as the king whose Year 8 is recorded in the P. Turin 1883 + 2095 document. The presence of Hormose's contemporary—the foreman Nekhemmut—also establishes that this papyrus dates to the mid-20th dynasty--most probably to the reign of Ramesses VII, since Nekhemmut is attested in office "from the second year of Ramesses IV until the seventeenth year of Ramesses IX."<ref>Eyre, pp.168-170</ref>

Since Ramesses VII's accession is known to have occurred around the end of III [[Season of the Emergence|Peret]],<ref name=jvb>J. von Beckerath, Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten, Mainz am Rhein: Verlag Philipp von Zabern. (1997), p.201</ref> the king would have ruled Egypt for a minimum period of 7 years and 5 months when this document was drawn up provided that it belonged to his reign as seems probable from the royal name given in the papyrus. The respected German Egyptologist [[Jürgen von Beckerath]] also accepts C.J. Eyre's evidence that Year 8 IV Shemu day 25 was Ramesses VII's highest known date.<ref name=jvb/> However, the accession date of his successor, [[Ramesses VIII]], has been fixed by Amin Amer to an 8-month period between I Peret day 2 and I [[Season of the Inundation|Akhet]] day 13,<ref>A. Amer, A Unique Theban Tomb Inscription under Ramesses VIII, GM 49, 1981, pp.9-12</ref> or 5 months after the Year 8 IV Shemu day 25 date of Ramesses VII. Therefore, if Ramesses VII did not die between the short 2 week period between IV Shemu day 29 to I Akhet 13, this pharaoh would have been on the throne for at least another 4 more months until I Peret day 2 and ruled Egypt for 7 years and 9 months when he died (perhaps slightly longer if he died after I Peret day 2). Therefore, it is possible that Ramesses VII could have ruled Egypt for almost 8 years; at present, his certain reign length is 7 years and 5 months.

Very little is known about his reign, though it was evidently a period of some turmoil, as grain prices soared.<ref>Shaw (2000), p. 308</ref>

==Ramesses VII's tomb and funerary equipment==
Ramesses VII was buried in Tomb [[KV1]] upon his death. His mummy has never been found, though four cups inscribed with the pharaoh's name were found in the "royal cache" in [[DB320]] along with the remains of other pharaohs.<ref>Reeves, Nicholas. Wilkinson, Richard H. <cite>The Complete Valley of the Kings</cite>. p. 167. Thames & Hudson. 1997. (Reprint) {{ISBN|0-500-05080-5}}</ref>
	
<gallery>
File:Tomb wall reliefs of Ramesses VII’s KV1 tomb in 2019.jpg|Finely carved wall reliefs in Ramesses' KV1 tomb
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* K. A. Kitchen, Ramses VII and the Twentieth Dynasty, [[Journal of Egyptian Archaeology]] 58 (1972), 182-194
* Benoît Lurson, A Monument of Ramses VII in the area of the Ramesseum?, [[Journal of Egyptian Archaeology]] 98 (2012), 297-304

{{Commons category|Ramses VII}}

{{Pharaohs}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramesses 08}}
[[Category:Ramesses VII| ]]
[[Category:12th-century BC pharaohs]]
[[Category:Pharaohs of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt]]
[[Category:12th-century BC deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Ramesses VI]]