Amun-her-khepeshef

Amun-her-khepeshef or Amonhirkhopshef or Amun-her-wenemef (died c.1254 BCE) was the firstborn son of Pharaoh Ramesses the Great and Queen Nefertari.

He was born when his father was still a co-regent with Seti I. He was originally called "Amun-her-wenemef" ("Amun Is with His Right Arm"). He changed his name to "Amun-her-khepeshef" ("Amun Is with His Strong Arm") early in his father's reign. [Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson (2004), p.170] He appears to have changed his name once again to "Seth-her-khepeshef" around Year 20 of Ramesses II. [Dodson & Hilton, op. cit., p.170] Seth-her-khepeshef was formerly thought to be another son of Ramesses II.

Amun-her-khepeshef was the crown prince of Egypt for the first 25 years of Ramesses II's reign but eventually predeceased his father in Year 25 of his father's reign. [Dodson & Hilton, op. cit., p.173] Ramesses B, Ramesses II's second oldest son then succeeded him as Crown Prince for another 25 years. (from Year 25 to Year 50 of this pharaoh's reign) Merenptah, Ramesses II's 13th son, would later assumed the throne in Year 67 of Ramesses II.

Amun-her-khepeshef, as heir to the throne, held several titles. Some of them were unique such as "Commander of the Troops", "Effective Confidant" and "Eldest Son of the King of his Body." Some of his other titles were shared with other prominent princes such as "Fan-bearer on the King's Right Hand" and "Royal Scribe". His titles indicate that he held a high position in the army, and according to some relief depictions, he and his younger half-brother Khaemwaset fought in the Battle of Kadesh and the campaigns in Nubia (or at least he accompanied his father to these battles). He appears on a wall in the Temple of Beit el-Wali. Amun-her-khepeshef was involved in an exchange of diplomatic correspondence with the Hittites after Ramesses II's Year 21 peace treaty with them. [Dodson & Hilton, op. cit., p.170]

Statues and depictions of Amun-her-khepeshef appear in his father's famous temples in Abu Simbel, Luxor, in the Ramesseum, and in Seti's Abydos temple. He is depicted with his father lassoing a bull in the Abydos temple walls and appears frequently on Ramesses II's statues. [Dodson & Hilton, op. cit., p.170]

Death

Amun-her-khepeshef died around Year 25 of his father's reign. [ [http://euler.slu.edu/Dept/Faculty/bart/egyptianhtml/kings%20and%20Queens/Ramses-II.html Anneke Bart: Ramesses II] ] If the body discovered by Dr. Weeks in KV5 is his, then he may have been in his early forties when he died. He is known to have had a wife named Nefertari – who could be identical with Ramesses' daughter, Nefertari, possibly a child of Queen Nefertari [Dodson & Hilton, op. cit., p.173] – and a son named Seti. The next crown prince was his half-brother Ramesses B, the eldest son of Queen Isetnofret. Amun-her-khepeshef was buried in tomb KV5 in the Valley of the Kings, in a large tomb built for the sons of Ramesses II. His internment was apparently inspected in Year 53 of Ramesses II. [Dodson & Hilton, op. cit., p.170]

References

* "Nos ancêtres de l'Antiquité", 1991, Christian Settipani, p. 176