Dr. Campbell Price

Oh, I think he's pretty successful.

I think he, as you said, sets the train in motion for what he hopes is going to be a long-lived dynasty, as we'll discuss maybe in the next episode.

The fact that his son is so long-lived may actually compromise Seti's plans.

But as a military man...

clearly you know i guess seti the first would have remembered a time when he was not meant to be the king you know he was a military general he was the son of a military general he was someone important but he had to prove himself amongst his colleagues yeah his peers exactly

So he has the kind of kingship thrust upon him, you could say.

So he has that genuine ingenuity where in his conscious life, Ramesses II was always a prince.

So you always have that kind of

silver spoon in his mouth so maybe his ambition is slightly different from his father's but his father in terms of especially in terms of architectural and artistic work as you mentioned the tomb in the valley of the kings work at carnag

other sites as well but the temple of Seti I at Abydos these are just beautiful things and I think he does instigate this co-regency that sets the scene for Ramesses II and when eventually Ramesses II takes the throne he says at that Abydos temple I arrived here and found it unfinished and I finished it in honour of his father so he doesn't change the names

well he does around the edges perhaps he completes it in his own name which is completely okay by ancient Egyptian standards it's not that the son is trying to elbow the father out of the way he's simply complimenting his father because kingship is timeless and none of those images of the kings look like the real people on the walls so you can simply continue the imagery it's not a conflict in the way we might think

Well, there's an interesting set of evidence at Karnak where there's a chap called Mehu, Mehu or Mehi, I forget, who is shown in a very prominent position in these battle reliefs.

So you get the sense that this guy is the right-hand man.

And in some of those reliefs, his image has changed to being Prince Ramesses.

Now, I wouldn't make too much of this.

I think that's just what's appropriate for...

to Rameses II.

I don't think this represents another rival claimant to the throne.

It may just be when the reliefs were executed, it was fitting at the time.

And then as time progressed, Rameses II really wanted to claim part of that legacy.