Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt

The Twentieth Dynasty was a royal dynasty that ruled early Egypt and was the last of three dynasties established during the period known as the New Kingdom. It followed the Nineteenth Dynasty and ended during the Third Intermediate Period, when administrative power over the country became divided among multiple centers.

Among the well-known rulers of this dynasty was Ramses III, generally considered the most powerful pharaoh of the New Kingdom's final years. Most of the other kings bore the name Ramses, a practice that led later historians to call this era the 'Ramesside' period.

History and chronology

The dynasty ruled roughly from the end of the second millennium BCE until approximately the twelfth and eleventh centuries BCE. The precise dates vary depending on the chronological systems used by scholars.

Warfare and economy

During the reign of Ramses III, Egypt faced invasions from groups known as the Sea Peoples and also from Libyan groups advancing from the west. Inscriptions from the temple of Medinet Habu record these conflicts. In the same period, economic troubles emerged: grain prices rose sharply, and the workmen of the royal tomb at Deir el-Medina went on strike when their rations were withheld—among the earliest recorded instances of this kind of action.

Power of the priesthood and the dynasty's end

Over the course of the dynasty, the power of the high priests of Amun at Thebes grew, while control by the pharaonic administration weakened in the north. By its end, the final ruler, Ramses XI, had greatly diminished authority. Afterward, Smendes established the Twenty-first Dynasty at Tanis, while Thebes remained under the high priests—marking the beginning of the Third Intermediate Period.