late Dynasty 19, still standing in the hypostyle hall of the Karnak complex Amenmesse (also Amenmesses or Amenmose) was the fifth ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty in Ancient Egypt, possibly the son of Merneptah and Queen Takhat. Others consider him to be one of the innumerable sons of Ramesses II. Very little is known about this king, who ruled Egypt for only three to four years A monument from Karnak carved while Amenmesse was in control of the area, includes he relief of a woman titled “King’s Daughter” and “King’s Mother”. When Seti ousted Amenmesse from the area, the piece was reinscribed from ‘Mother’ to ‘Wife’. Another statue of Seti II (Cairo CG1198) bears Seti’s name surcharged over someone else’s while the names of Takhat were left alone. This suggests that Takhat was married to Seti as well as mother to Amenmesse Six quartzite statues originally placed along the axis of the hypostyle hall in the Amun Temple at Karnak were defaced and overwritten with the name of Seti II. One of these statues, with the inscription, “the Great Royal Wife Takhat”, lends credence to the argument that a Takhat was Amenmesse’s wife. Amenmesse was also responsible for restoring a shrine dating from Thutmose III that stands before a temple at El-Tod There is confusion about the events surrounding his death. His mummy was not amongst those found in the cache at Deir el Bahri, and from the destruction of his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, it is assumed that Seti II took revenge upon his usurping half-brother Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
