Siptah and Beja: A new assessment of a historical constellation

This article aims at reconsidering one [of] the central assumptions concerning the end of the nineteenth dynasty due to which it is the great treasurer Beja who hides up behind the enigmatic figure of the usurper "Arsu" in the Great Papyrus Harris. It argues that while there is no indication of a foreign origin for Beja, the note in Papyrus Harris is to be correctly understood as "the one who reigned six years". This would indeed corroborate the thesis of an identity of "Arsu" and king Siptah put forward in the 1950s by W. Helck and J. von Beckerath. In favor of a possible Palestinian origin of the king could be adduced the relief Louvre E. 26901 which mentions the ancient Canaanite name Soteraja "(The god NN) is registering (the child)" of a mother of a prince Ramses-Siptah. Ascribing this relief to the future king Siptah is, however, uncertain. The second part of the study offers a new historical sketch of the late 19th dynasty that assigns to the presence of a prince Seti-Merenptah (II) the key role for correctly understanding important contemporary events such as Siptah's ascending to the throne, his change of titulary, the conflict with Beja, and Tewosre's regency. This prince's early burial (may be in the 'Gold Tomb', KV56) could be recorded in the much debated O. CG 25792.