Khepermaatre Ramesses X (also written Ramses and Rameses) (ruled )
Reign
His accession day fell on 1
prt 27 (first month of the Winter season, day 27).
[J. von Beckerath, GM 79 (1984), 8-9] His highest attested regnal year is year 3; the highest attested date in his reign is either "year 3, second month of the Inundation season, day 2"
[Botti & Peet, Il Giornale della Necropoli, 55] or possibly "year 3, month 4 (no day given)".
[Botti & Peet, Il Giornale della Necropoli, 55, txt d] However, a later 20th Dynasty papyrus fragment from
Deir el-Medina published in 2023 by Egyptologist Robert Demarée refers to a partial date of Year 4, third month of Inundation or together with a change to Year 1, month 4 of Inundation. Although both kings are unnamed, it is strongly suggested by Demarée to refer to the reigns of Ramesses X and his successor Ramesses XI. If confirmed, this would mean that Ramesses X ruled for 3 years and 10 months or nearly 4 years before he died.
The only other 20th Dynasty king who died in his regnal Year 4 was Ramesses V but this ruler died around the time interval between the first and second month of Peret[Jürgen von Beckerath, Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, (1997), pp.201-202] So, the papyrus document above cannot refer to Ramesses V.
The older theory put forward on astronomical grounds by Richard Parker that Ramesses X may have reigned for 9 years,[R.A. Parker, The Length of the Reign of Ramesses X, RdÉ 11 (1951), 163-164] has since been abandoned.
Likewise, the suggested ascription of Theban graffito 1860a to a hypothetical year 8 of Ramesses X
Family
The English Egyptologists Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton wrote in a 2004 book:
No evidence is known to indicate the relationship between the final kings Ramesses IX, X and XI. If they were a father-son succession, Tyti, who bears the titles of King's Daughter, King's Wife and King's Mother, would seem to a good candidate for the wife of Ramesses X, but little else can be discerned.
However, Dodson's hypothesis here on Tyti's position must now be discarded since it has been proven in 2010 that Tyti was rather a queen of a previous 20th dynasty pharaoh instead. She is mentioned in the partly fragmented Harris papyrus to be Ramesses III's wife as Dodson himself acknowledges.
Attestations
Ramesses X is a poorly documented king. His year 2 is attested by
Papyrus Turin 1932+1939 while his third year is documented in the Necropolis Journal of the Workmen of Deir El Medina.
[E.F. Wente & C.C. Van Siclen, "A Chronology of the New Kingdom" in Studies in Honor of George R. Hughes, (SAOC 39) 1976, p.261] This diary mentions the general idleness of the necropolis workmen, at least partly due to the threat posed by Libyan marauders in the Valley of the Kings. It records that the Deir El-Medina workmen were absent from work in Year 3 IIIrd Month of Peret (i.e., Winter) days 6, 9, 11, 12, 18, 21 and 24 for fear of the "desert-dwellers" (i.e., the Libyans or
Meshwesh) who evidently roamed through Upper Egypt and Thebes at will.
[J. Cerny, "Egypt from the Death of Ramesses III" in Cambridge Archaeological History (CAH), 'The Middle East and the Aegean Region c.1380-1000 BC', 1975, p.618] This is partly a reflection of the massive Libyan influx into the Western Delta region of Lower Egypt during this time. Ramesses X is also the last New Kingdom king whose rule over
Nubia is attested from an inscription at Aniba.
[Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, (Blackwell Books: 1992), p.291]
Tomb
His KV18 tomb in the Valley of the Kings was left unfinished. It is uncertain if he was ever buried there, since no remains or fragments of funerary objects were discovered within it.
External links
