Prince Khaemweset (also translated as Khamwese, Khaemwese or Khaemwaset or Setne Khamwas) (c. 1281 BCE - 1225 BCE) was the fourth son of Ramesses II and the second son by his queen Isetnofret. He was also Merneptah's older brother. His contributions to Egyptian society were remembered for centuries after his death. Khaemweset has been described as "the first Egyptologist" due to his efforts in identifying and restoring historic buildings, tombs and temples.

Life

According to historian Miriam Lichtheim:

Khaemweset grew up with his brothers during a time of foreign conflict and he is present in scenes from the Battle of Kadesh, the siege of Qode (Naharin), and the siege of Dapur in Syria. In the battle of Kadesh scenes from year 5 of Ramesses II, Khaemweset is shown leading sons of the chiefs of Hatti before the gods. These princes were prisoners of war. In scenes depicting the battle of Qode, Khaemweset is shown both leading prisoners before his father and serving as an attendant of his father. In year 10 of Ramesses II, Khaemweset was present during the battle of Dapur.

thumb|left| Head of Khaemwaset

Restoring ancient monuments

Khaemweset restored the monuments of earlier kings and nobles. Restoration texts were found associated with the pyramid of Unas at Saqqara, the tomb of Shepseskaf called the Mastabat al-Fir’aun, the sun-Temple of Nyuserre Ini, the Pyramid of Sahure, the Pyramid of Djoser, and the Pyramid of Userkaf.

Inscriptions at the pyramid temple of Userkaf show Khaemweset with offering bearers, and at the pyramid temple of Sahure Khamwaset offers a statue of the goddess Bast.

Not much is known about Khaemweset's wife, though in the demotic story, Setna II, his wife bears the name Meheweskhe.

One grandson of his is known. His son Hori had a son who was also named Hori. This grandson of Khaemweset would later serve as Vizier of Egypt during the tumultuous period at the end of the Nineteenth Dynasty. He was still performing these duties under Ramesses III.

Burial

thumb|Shabti of Khaemweset (Khamwaset, Kha-em-was), son of Ramesses II. The head is missing. Black steatite. 19th Dynasty. From Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London

Whilst first exploring the Serapeum of Saqqara between 1851 and 1853, French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette was confronted by a huge rock, which could only be moved by the use of explosives. Once the shattered remnants of the rock were removed, an intact coffin was discovered which contained the mummy of a man, accompanied by numerous funerary treasures. A gold mask covered his face, and amulets gave his name as Prince Khaemweset, son of Ramesses II and builder of the Serapeum. These remains have now been lost but Egyptologists believe that this was not the grave of Khaemweset and that the remains were those of an Apis Bull made into a human form to resemble the Prince.

The Egyptologist Aidan Dodson is quoted writing in his book "Canopic Equipment from the Serapeum of Memphis":

thumb|left|Gold mask with the likeness of Khaemweset from the Apis bull burial.

::"Designated Apis XIV, it comprised a wooden sarcophagus, largely embedded in the ground, with its upper part largely crushed. Inside, there was what had the appearance of a human mummy, its face covered by a somewhat crude gold mask, damaged by damp and bearing a considerable quantity of jewelry, some bearing the name of Prince Khaemweset.

::In spite of its appearance, the mummy proved to be a mass of fragrant resin, containing a quantity of disordered bone. Although frequently stated to be the mummy of Khaemweset, on the basis of its possessing his jewelry, the mass of resin containing bony fragments is far more reminiscent of the undoubted Apis of tombs E and G. Its formation into the simulacrum of a human mummy also finds echo in the anthropoid coffin lids that covered the resinous masses within the sarcophagi of Apis VII and IX, there can thus be no doubt that the burial is actually that of the bull, Apis XIV."

As a result, it's believed that Khaemweset was likely buried in KV5, a large rock-cut tomb built for the sons of Ramesses II in the Valley of the Kings.

thumb|Pectoral from Khaemweset's Serapeum tomb burial bearing Ramesses II's cartouche.

During earlier excavations the Waseda University expedition found the remains of a monument which may have been Khaemweset's "ka-house".

Khaemweset in Ancient Egyptian fiction

In later periods of Egyptian history, Khaemweset was remembered as a wise man, and portrayed as the hero in a cycle of stories dating to the Hellenistic period.

The first tale, dubbed Setne I or Setne Khamwas and Naneferkaptah, describes how Khaemwaset seeks and finds a book of powerful magical spells, the Book of Thoth, in the tomb of Prince Naneferkaptah. Against the wishes of Naneferkaptah's spirit, Khaemwaset takes the book and becomes cursed. Setne then meets a beautiful woman who seduces him into killing his children and humiliating himself in front of the pharaoh. He discovers that this episode was an illusion created by Neferkaptah, and in fear of further retribution, Setne returns the book to Neferkaptah's tomb. At Neferkaptah's request, Setne also finds the bodies of Neferkaptah's wife and son and buries them in Neferkaptah's tomb, which is then sealed.

The second tale is known as Setne II or the Tale of Setne Khamwas and Si-Osire. Khaemwaset and his wife have a son named Si-Osire who turns out to be a highly skilled magician. In the first part of the story, Si-Osire brings his father to visit the Duat, the land of the dead, where they see the pleasant fate of the deceased spirits who lived justly and the torments inflicted on spirits who sinned during their lives. In the second part, it is revealed that Si-Osire is actually a famous magician from the time of Thutmose III who returned to save Egypt from a Nubian magician. After the confrontation, Si-Osire disappears, and Khaemwaset and his wife have a real son who is also named Si-Osire in honor of the magician.

  • Khaemwaset appears in the game Age of Mythology under the name of Setna, where he is portrayed as a priest of Osiris rather than Ptah.
  • Khaemwaset is the protagonist of Pauline Gedge's novel "Scroll of Saqqara". it is directly inspired by the Setne I tale, but with many changes.
  • Khaemwaset appears in The Serpents Shadow, the final book in The Kane Chronicles, as the evil magician Setne, although he is also referred to as Prince Khaemwaset. He also serves as the main antagonist of Demigods & Magicians.
  • Khaemwaset is a main character in Saviour Pirotta's The Crocodile Curse, the second book in The Nile Adventures series

See also

  • List of children of Ramesses II

Bibliography

  • M. Ibrahim Aly, À propos du prince Khâemouaset et de sa mère Isetneferet, in: Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts Abteilung Kairo 49 (MDAIK 1993) 97-105.

References

  • Prince Khaemwaset
  • Khaemwaset - Nozomu Kawai. The Encyclopedia of Ancient History DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah15225