List of children of Ramesses II
The Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II had a large number of children: between 48 and 50 sons, and 40 to 53 daughters – whom he had depicted on several monuments.
Ramesses apparently made no distinctions between the offspring of his first two principal wives, Nefertari and Isetnofret. Both queens' firstborn sons and first few daughters had statues at the entrance of the Greater Abu Simbel temple, although only Nefertari's children were depicted in the smaller temple, dedicated to her. Other than Nefertari and Isetnofret, Ramesses had six more great royal wives during his reign – his own daughters Bintanath, Meritamen, Nebettawy and Henutmire, and two daughters of Hattusili III, King of Hatti. Except the first Hittite princess Maathorneferure and possibly Bintanath, none are known to have borne children to the pharaoh.
The first few children of Ramesses usually appear in the same order on depictions. Lists of princes and princesses were found in the Ramesseum, Luxor, Wadi es-Sebua and Abydos. Some names are known to us from ostraka, tombs and other sources. The sons of Ramesses appear on depictions of battles and triumphs–such as the Battle of Kadesh and the siege of the Syrian city of Dapur–already early in his reign, thus it is likely that several of them were born before he ascended to the throne. Many of his sons were buried in the tomb KV5.
Ramesses' efforts to have his children depicted on several of his monuments are in contradiction with the earlier tradition of keeping royal children, especially boys in the background unless they held important official titles. This was probably caused by the fact that his family was not of royal origin and he wanted to stress their royal status.
Sons
- Amunherkhepeshef , firstborn son of Nefertari; crown prince until his death in Year 25. He is likely to be the same person as Seth-her-khepeshef or Sethirkopshef.
- Ramesses , eldest son of Isetnofret, crown prince between Years 25 and 50.
- Pareherwenemef , Nefertari's second son. Appears on depictions of the triumph after the Battle of Kadesh and in the smaller Abu-Simbel temple. He was never crown prince; it is likely he predeceased his elder brothers.
- Khaemweset , Isetnofret's second son, "the first Egyptologist", crown prince between years 50 and 55.
- Mentuherkhepeshef A was mentioned on a stela from Bubastis. A statue of him is in Copenhagen. He was present at the siege of Dapur. He was never crown prince; it is likely he predeceased his elder brothers.
- Nebenkharu Troopcommander. Prince Nebenkharu was present at the battle of Qadesh and at a battle in the North. He was never crown prince; it is likely he predeceased his elder brothers.
- Ramesses-Meryamun was present at the triumph and the siege; was buried in KV5 where fragments of his canopic jars were found. He was never crown prince; it is likely he predeceased his elder brothers.
- Amunemwia or Sethemwia also appears at Dapur. He changed his name from Amunemwia to Sethemwia around the same time when his eldest brother changed it. He was never crown prince; it is likely he predeceased his elder brothers.
- Seti A was also present at Kadesh and Dapur. He was never crown prince; it is likely he predeceased his elder brothers. He was buried in KV5 – where two of his canopic jars were found – around Year 53. On his funerary equipment his name is spelled Sutiy. He might have been identical with another Sethi, mentioned on an ostrakon which is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
- Setepenre was present at Dapur too. He was never crown prince; it is likely he predeceased his elder brothers.
- Meryre was the son of Nefertari. He was never crown prince; it is likely he predeceased his elder brothers. It is likely that he died at a young age; a brother of his was probably named after him.
- Horherwenemef was never crown prince; it is likely he predeceased his elder brothers.
- Merneptah , son of Isetnofret, crown prince after the 55th year, then pharaoh.
- Amenhotep
- Itamun
- Meryatum , son of Nefertari. High Priest of Heliopolis.
- Nebentaneb
- Meryre
- Amunemopet
- Senakhtenamun is likely to have been resided in Memphis, as it is suggested by a votive plaque belonging to his servant Amenmose.
- Ramesses-Merenre
- Djehutimes
- Simentu was the overseer of the royal vineyards in Memphis. He was married to Iryet, daughter of a Syrian captain, Benanath.
- Mentuemwaset
- Siamun
- Ramesses-Siptah was probably the son of a secondary wife called Sutererey. A relief of them is in the Louvre. A Book of the Dead, which was probably his, is now in Florence.
- Unknown
- Mentuenheqau
Daughters
It is harder to determine the birth order of the daughters than that of the sons. The first ten of them usually appear in the same order. Many of the princesses are known to us only from Abydos and from ostraka. The six eldest princesses have statues at the entrance of the Greater Abu Simbel temple.- Bintanath , daughter of Isetnofret, later Great Royal Wife.
- Baketmut
- Nefertari, possibly the wife of Amun-her-khepeshef.
- Meritamen is Nefertari's daughter, later Great Royal Wife. She is probably the best known of Ramesses' daughters.
- Nebettawy later became Great Royal Wife.
- Isetnofret II is also known from a letter in which two singers inquire after her health. It is possible she was identical with Merenptah's wife Isetnofret, but it is also possible that Merenptah's wife was Khaemwaset's daughter, also called Isetnofret.
- Henuttawy was Nefertari's daughter.
- Werenro
- Nedjemmut
- Pypuy is likely to be identical with a lady who was the daughter of Iwy and was reburied with a group of 18th dynasty princesses in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna.
From the Abydos procession:
From Wadi es-Sebua:
From a Louvre ostrakon: