Siptah

From ArchaeoWiki

Siptah was the seventh ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty, the son of Seti II and Queen Tia'a.

Siptah was not originally the heir, but succeeded to the throne as a child when his elder brother predeceased Seti II.

Gae Callender, in her recent analysis of the 19th Dynasty successors of Ramesses II in KMT 17(2006) notes that Louvre relief E 26901, pairs Siptah's name together with the name of his mother, a certain Sutailja or Shoteraja. A Canaanite, rather than a native Egyptian name suggests that she was almost certainly a king's concubine from Canaan. (Callender, KMT 17, p.52).

Siptah ruled Egypt for almost 6 years. His step-mother and Seti II's Chief Queen, Twosret, became the Queen Regent at the Royal Court because of his relative youth.

Chancellor Bay boasted publicly that he was instrumental in installing Siptah on the throne in several inscriptions, including an Aswan stela set up by Seti, the Viceroy of Kush (LD III, 202c) and at Gebel es Silsila (LD III, 202a). (Callender, p.63) Bay, however, fell out of favour at Court and last appears in public in a dated Year 4 inscription from Siptah's reign. He was executed in the Fifth Year of Siptah's reign, on orders of the king himself. News of his execution was passed to the Workmen of Deir el-Medina in Ostraca IFAO 1254. Callendar notes that the reason for the king's message to the workmen was to notify them to cease work on decorating Bay's tomb since Bay had now been deemed a traitor to the state. (Callender, KMT 17, p.54) Siptah himself died in his 6th Regnal Year. After his death, Twosret simply assumed his Regnal Years and ruled Egypt as a Queen for another 2 years.

Siptah was buried in KV 47 in the Valley of the Kings, but his mummy was not found within this tomb. In 1898, it was discovered along with 18 others in the mummy cache within the tomb of Amenhotep II (KV35). An examination of his mummy reveals that he died around age 16 and likely suffered from polio with a severely deformed and crippled left foot. (Callendar, p.52)

Bibliography

• Callender, Gae [2006], "The Cripple, the Queen and the Man from the North", KMT 17.1 (Spring 2006), pp.49-63.

• Grandet, Pierre [2000], "L'execution du chancelier Bay O. IFAO 1864", BIFAO 100 (2000) pp.339-345.

• Schneider, Thomas [2003], "Siptah und Beja", ZÄS 130 (2003), pp.134-146.