The glorious Paramessu, the son of Seti, followed in his father's footsteps and very quickly reached the position of commander of archers in the huge army of the pharaoh. Soon, a dizzying military career helped him take the place of the supreme vizier under the pharaoh Horemheb. The king's confidence in him was unlimited, and soon Paramessu marries his son Seti I to the royal daughter, thus achieving his recognition as the heir to the throne.
Only at a rather old age in 1291 BC. Paramessu ascends the throne. So the world appeared a new pharaoh, the founder of the XIX dynasty of the great pharaohs of Egypt, Ramses I. He did not have a chance to rule the country for a very short time - only 1 year and 4 months. During his lifetime, he appoints the son of Seti I as his co-ruler.
The name of Ramses I is associated with the processes of the revival of traditional Egyptian statehood and culture after the tragic Amarna period for Egypt, when the country experienced decline and religious reforms. First of all, the new pharaoh set himself the goal of recapturing the lost Eastern Mediterranean from the Hittites. His excellent organizational skills and military experience, just in handy, were useful to him to strengthen the weakened state.
The troops idolized their king. To improve the army, he divides it into three parts, giving them the names of the Egyptian gods: Ra, Amun and Set. Each part has a war chariot body. This allowed the troops to be more mobile and capable of rapidly attacking the enemy.
In addition, detachments of mercenaries from neighboring tribes - Libyans, Nubians and Syrians - appeared in the army. For the personal protection of the tsar, a special guard was staffed, consisting mainly of the Sherdans - one of the most "dangerous peoples of the sea".
In the second year of his reign, Ramses I organized a great campaign to Nubia, where he erected the temple of Mina-Amon in Buchen and granted him, among other gifts, also "slaves from the spoils of His Majesty." This is reported in the inscriptions on the stele of Wadi Khalfa - the only dated monument to the reign of Ramses I.
At Karnak, the pharaoh ordered to begin finishing work in the hypostyle hall, where the entrance pylon to this hall was erected. Here on the walls you can still see the name of Ramses I.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the famous traveler, Egyptologist and adventurer Giovanni Battista Belzoni made a number of extraordinary explorations and discoveries. This tremendous adventurer had a deep admiration for Egyptian art. He was distinguished by a special archaeological intuition, thanks to which, as well as deep technical knowledge, he managed to go down in history as one of the most successful archaeologists.
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In 1817, in the Valley of the Kings, Belzoni opened the tomb of Ramses I. The tomb was quite small. The only room was unfinished. And this suggests that the construction was carried out in a hurry.
Local tomb robbers, who made this lucrative business their family business, stole the pharaoh's mummy, which was sold to the American entrepreneur James Douglas, who smuggled it to America.
In 1860, the mummy was acquired as an exhibit by the Niagara Falls Museum in the Canadian province of Ontario. There she was for almost 140 years, until in 1999 it was sold along with other ancient Egyptian exhibits to the Emory Museum. Michael Carlos in Atlanta for $ 2 million. None of the museum employees even knew whose remains were.
Scientists at the University of Atlanta have carefully examined the body. Computed tomography, radiocarbon analysis and X-ray examination were performed. Until now, there is no final certainty that this mummy belongs to Ramses I, but no one had the slightest doubt that this was the mummy of the pharaoh.
Zahi Hawas, Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council for Antiquities, notes: "We are not 100% sure that this is the mummy of Ramses I, but there is no doubt that it is the mummy of the Pharaoh." When scientists proved that an unusual exhibit was kept in the Atlanta Museum, it was decided to return it to Egypt. The ancient mummy of the pharaoh, which is more than 3000 years old, left Egypt in the 19th century and returned to its homeland on October 24, 2003.
Pharaoh's body, carefully packed in a special box covered with the Egyptian state flag, was taken from America to Cairo by plane. He was awaited by a solemn welcome at the airport and a magnificent ceremony with the participation of a military band at the National Museum of Cairo. The Egyptians greeted their pharaoh with songs and drums.
“We are the children of the Nile. Welcome back, Ramses is the builder of revered Egypt,”the words of one of the songs poured solemnly.
Zaha Havas, who accompanied an unusual cargo from the USA, called the return of the valuable exhibit to his homeland "a noble civilized gesture". This amazing person, who made a huge number of discoveries in the field of archeology and made an invaluable contribution to the development of Egyptology, is firmly convinced that the priceless treasures of Ancient Egypt, once taken out of the country in tons by deceit, criminal and smuggling, must certainly be returned to the land of the pharaohs. The return to his homeland of Ramses I was the first step towards restoring the integrity of the ancient Egyptian heritage.