245: Revenge of the Seth (The 19th Dynasty Falls)

Siptah, Tausret, Setnakht. Between 1205--1202 BCE, the royal house of Ramesses II crumbled into illegitimacy. After Siptah, the queen Tausret declared herself pharaoh. Her reign leaves tantalising traces. But shortly after, a man named Set-Nakht ("Seth is Victorious") seized the throne and inaugurated the 20th Dynasty. Subsequently, he and his successors declared the late 19th Dynasty a period of "empty years," lacking legitimacy, with no true ruler.

What went wrong?

Logo image: The "charioteer ostracon," depicting a female ruler charging against a male, both firing arrows (Daressy 1909).

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