ll short of its
model owing to the insufficiency of his resources in men and money. If
Ramses III. did not succeed in becoming one of the most powerful of the
Theban Pharaohs, it was not for lack of energy or ability; the depressed
condition of Egypt at the time limited the success of his endeavours and
caused them to fall short of his intentions. The work accomplished by
him was not on this account less glorious. At his accession Egypt was
in a wretched state, invaded on the west, threatened by a flood
of barbarians on the east, without an army or a fleet, and with no
resources in the treasury. In fifteen years he had disposed of his
inconvenient neighbours, organised an army, constructed a fleet,
re-established his authority abroad, and settled the administration
at home on so firm a basis, that the country owed the peace which it
enjoyed for several centuries to the institutions and prestige which
he had given it. His associate in the government, Ramses IV., barely
survived him. Then followed a series of _rois faineants_ bearing the
name of Ramses, but in an order not yet clearly determined. It is
generally assumed that Ramses V., brother of Ramses III., succeeded
Ramses IV. by supplanting his nephews--who, however, appear to have
soon re-established their claim to the throne, and to have followed each
other in rapid succession as Ramses VI., Ramses VIL, Ramses VIII., and
Maritumu.* Others endeavour to make out that Ramses V. was the son of
Ramses IV., and that the prince called Ramses VI. never succeeded to the
throne at all. At any rate, his son, who is styled Ramses VIL, but who
is asserted by some to have been a son of Ramses III., is considered to
have succeeded Ramses V., and to have become the ancestor from whom the
later Ramessides traced their descent.**

* The order of the Ramessides was first made out by
Champollion the younger and by Rosellini. Bunsen and Lepsius
reckon in it thirteen kings; E. de Rouge puts the number at
fifteen or sixteen; Maspero makes the number to be twelve,
which was reduced still further by Setho. Erman thinks that
Ramses IX. and Ramses X. were also possibly sons of Ramses
III.; he consequently declines to recognise King Maritumu as
a son of that sovereign, as Brugsch would make out.

* The monuments of these later Ramessides are so rare and so
doubtful that I cannot yet see my way to a solution of the
questions which they ra