Ramesses IV
the third ruler of Egypt’s Twentieth Dynasty
Ramesses IV was the Twentieth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt’s New Kingdom’s third king. Amonhirkhopshef was his name before he became king. He was Ramesses III’s fifth son, and by the twenty-second year of his father’s reign, when all four of his elder brothers had died, he had been promoted to the post of crown prince. The Prince used three unique titles as his father’s chosen successor: “Hereditary Prince”, “Royal scribe”, and “Generalissimo”; the latter two of his titles are stated in a tablet in Amenhotep III’s temple at Soleb, and all three royal titles are mentioned on a lintel currently in Florence, Italy.
Evidence of circumstances indicates that this monarch assumed the throne of the king after the death of his father in circumstances surrounded by ambiguity and confusion, especially the conspiracy that was plotted to assassinate his father at the hands of one of his sons named “Pentauer” jointly with their mother. We do not know for sure if he was injured in this conspiracy. Fatal injuries that precipitated his death, or that they occurred in his late days while he was on the verge of death. There were hints in Harris’ major paper that Ramesses III worried about the throne of the king after him, and the dangers that surrounded him, so that he called for his son, “Ramesses IV” to extend the rule and to enjoy a happy covenant, as he asked the men of his palace and his entourage to rally around his son And they support him, even though he had prepared his son to take over his throne after him, and we have a lintel in his palace that this monarch gave to his son “Ramesses IV” while he is still a prince.
As heir-apparent, he had more duties; for example, in Amun’s TT 148 tomb, he is represented appointing a certain Amenemope to the significant position of Third Prophet of Amun in Year 27 of his father’s reign. All three of prince Ramesses’ royal titles are also given to him in Amenemope’s Theban tomb. Ramesses IV is thought to have been in his forties when he ascended the throne after Ramesses III’s three-decade reign. His reign is thought to have lasted from 1153 to 1147 BC.
He was the fifth son of Ramesses III and was appointed to the position of crown prince by the twenty-second year of his father’s reign when all four of his elder brothers predeceased him.
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Reign
At the commencement of his reign, the pharaoh began a massive building programme on the magnitude of Ramesses II, raising the number of the work gangs at Deir el-Medina to 120 men and deploying many expeditions to the Wadi Hammamat stone quarry and the Sinai turquoise mines.
According to the Great Rock stela of Ramesses IV at Wadi Hammamat, the largest expedition—dating from his Year 3, third month of Shemu day 27—consisted of 8,368 men, including 5,000 soldiers, 2,000 Amun temple personnel, 800 Apiru, and 130 stonemasons and quarrymen under the personal command of Ramessesnakht, the High Priest of Amun. This figure comprised 900 soldiers “who are deceased and excluded from this list,” according to the scribes who drafted the document. As a result, when this omitted statistic is added to the total of 8,368 men who served in the Year 3 quarry expedition, a total of 900 men perished out of an original total of 8,368 men, resulting in a mortality rate of 10.7%. Some of the stones transported 60 kilometres from Wadi Hammamat to the Nile weighed 40 tonnes or more. Other Egyptian quarries, such as those at Aswan, were considerably closer to the Nile, allowing them to carry stones across large distances by barge.
The construction of a massive mortuary temple adjoining the Temple of Hatshepsut was part of the king’s agenda, as was the substantial extension of his father’s Temple of Khonsu at Karnak. Prior to his fourth year, Ramesses IV conducted many voyages to the Sinai’s turquoise mines; a total of four missions are documented. The Royal Butler Sobekhotep’s Serabit el-Khadim stela reads: “Shomu’s third year, third month. On his fourth journey, His Majesty despatched Sobekhotep, his favoured and cherished one, the confidant of his master, the Overseer of the Treasury of Silver and Gold, Chief of the Secrets of the august Palace, to gather for him everything that his heart wanted of turquoise.” Since Sobekhotep is confirmed in power until at least Ramesses V’s reign, this mission dates to either Ramesses III or IV’s reign. The stela of a senior army scribe named Panufer records Ramesses IV’s final expedition to the Sinai’s turquoise mines. According to Panufer, the purpose of this voyage was to get turquoise and to erect a worship chapel for King Ramesses IV at Serabit el-Hathor Khadim’s temple.
Death and burial
Despite his extensive efforts for the gods and his petition to Osiris—preserved on a Year 4 stela at Abydos—that “thou shalt give me the great age with a long reign [like my predecessor],” Ramesses IV did not live long enough to achieve his lofty ambitions. Ramesses IV died and was buried in tomb KV2 in the Valley of the Kings after a brief reign of around six and a half years. In 1898, his mummy was discovered in the royal treasure of Amenhotep II’s tomb KV35. Queen Duatentopet or Tentopet or Male, his principal wife, is buried at QV74. Ramesses V, his son, would follow him on the throne.
F.A.Q
1176 BC
Despite his father Ramesses III’s 31-year rule, Ramesses IV his reign lasted from 1153 to 1147 BC.
Ramesses IV was an ancient Egyptian monarch who attempted to sustain Egypt’s wealth by significant building activity in the face of failing internal and external situations.
Tomb KV2
The tomb of Ramesses IV is located low down in the main valley, between KV7 and KV1. It is located in the Valley of the Kings. It’s been around since antiquity and has a lot of graffiti on it.
Ramesses V, who was most likely his son, took his place.
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