Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt

The Nineteenth Dynasty belongs to the New Kingdom and is closely associated with the Ramesside royal house. It followed the Eighteenth Dynasty and included Seti I, Ramesses II and later successors who ruled an Egypt still defined by military prestige, temple building and international diplomacy.

The dynasty mattered because it produced some of the most visible monuments and political memories of ancient Egypt. Conflict and negotiation with the Hittites, royal building at Thebes and Abu Simbel, and the power of the priesthood all shaped its history.

Christian Jacq’s Ramses, Stone of Light and Judge of Egypt books all draw on the Ramesside world. This context is useful for fiction about court politics, royal succession, temple labour, tomb-builders, chariot warfare, diplomacy and the relationship between monumental architecture and power.