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Merneptah (or Merenptah) was the fourth ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He ruled Egypt for almost ten years between late July or early August 1213 and May 2, 1203 BC, according to contemporary historical records.〔Jürgen von Beckerath, ''Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten'', Mainz, (1997), pp.190〕 He was the thirteenth son of Ramesses II〔Gae Callender, ''The Eye Of Horus: A History of Ancient Egypt'', Longman Cheshire (1993), p.263〕 and only came to power because all his older brothers, including his full brother Khaemwaset or Khaemwase, had died. By the time he ascended to the throne he was almost sixty years old. His throne name was ''Ba-en-re Mery-netjeru'', which means "The Soul of Ra, Beloved of the Gods". Merneptah was probably the fourth child of Isetnofret, the second wife of Ramesses II, and he was married to Queen Isetnofret, his royal wife, who was likely his full sister bearing the name of their mother. It is presumed that Merneptah also was married to Queen Takhat and one of their sons would become the later Nineteenth Dynasty pharaoh, Seti II. They also were the parents of prince Merenptah and possibly the usurper, Amenmesse, and Queen Twosret, wife of Seti II and later pharaoh in her own right. ==Campaigns== Merneptah had to carry out several military campaigns during his reign. In year 5 he fought against the Libyans, who—with the assistance of the Sea Peoples—were threatening Egypt from the West. Merneptah led a victorious six-hour battle against a combined Libyan and Sea People force at the city of Perire, probably located on the western edge of the Delta. His account of this campaign against the Sea Peoples and Libu is described in prose on a wall beside the sixth pylon at Karnak, which states: : (of the victory that his majesty achieved in the land of Libya ) -i, Ekwesh, Teresh, Lukka, Sherden, Shekelesh, Northerners coming from all lands. Later in the inscription Merneptah receives news of the attack: : ... the third season, saying: 'The wretched, fallen chief of Libya, Meryre, son of Ded, has fallen upon the country of Tehenu with his bowmen--Sherden, Shekelesh, Ekwesh, Lukka, Teresh, Taking the best of every warrior and every man of war of his country. He has brought his wife and his children--leaders of the camp, and he has reached the western boundary in the fields of Perire.'〔Robert Drews, ''The End of the Bronze Age'', Princeton University Press, 1993. p.49〕 In the Athribis Stele, in the garden of Cairo Museum, it states "His majesty was enraged at their report, like a lion", assembled his court and gave a rousing speech. Later he dreamed he saw Ptah handing him a sword and saying "Take thou (it) and banish thou the fearful heart from thee." When the bowmen went forth, says the inscription, "Amun was with them as a shield." After six hours the surviving Nine Bows threw down their weapons, abandoned their baggage and dependents, and ran for their lives. Merneptah states that he defeated the invasion, killing 6,000 soldiers and taking 9,000 prisoners. To be sure of the numbers, among other things, he took the penises of all uncircumcised enemy dead and the hands of all the circumcised, from which history learns that the Ekwesh were circumcised, a fact causing some to doubt they were Greek. There is also an account of the same events in the form of a poem from the Merneptah Stele, widely known as the ''Israel Stele'', which makes reference to the supposed utter destruction of ''Israel'' in a campaign prior to his 5th year in Canaan: "Israel has been wiped out...its seed is no more." This is the first recognised ancient Egyptian record of the existence of Israel--"not as a country or city, but as a tribe" or people.〔Jacobus Van Dijk, "The Amarna Period and the Later New Kingdom" in ''The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt'', ed. Ian Shaw, Oxford University Press (2000), p.302〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Merneptah」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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