The discovery of the first known ancient Egyptian cartouche in Jordan was officially confirmed last week. The rare inscription refers to Ramesses III, who is considered the last pharaoh of the New Kingdom to have wielded substantial power.
Discovery Shows How “Ramesses III Extended Egypt’s Influence Beyond its Border”
The inscription was carved into a rock face southeast of the Wadi Rum Reserve in southern Jordan near the border of Saudi Arabia. It bears two royal cartouches: one with the birth name of Ramesses III and the other with his throne name. These confirm the pharaoh’s New Kingdom reign over Upper and Lower Egypt during the 12th century BCE.
These ancient Egyptian cartouches are the only ones of their kind to have been found in Jordan. While the Ramesses III inscription was first discovered over a decade ago, it has only recently been officially documented and certified. This process culminated with a visit from Zahi Hawass, a leading Egyptologist who previously served as Egypt’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities.
The attribution of the inscription was led by Jordanian archaeologists Ali Manaser and Ahmed Lash, and it was officially announced by Jordan’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities last week. According to Manaser, the inscription is significant because it “supports the historical notion that Ramesses III extended Egypt’s influence beyond its borders, specifically over the trade routes through the Arabian Peninsula.”
Ramesses III and the Wadi Rum Region
Ramesses III ruled as the second pharaoh of Egypt’s 20th Dynasty from approximately 1187 to 1156 BCE. At the time of his reign, the region now known as southeastern Jordan was rich in copper, which the ancient Egyptians relied on to make tools, weapons, pigments, and other items. Wadi Rum’s location along important trade routes would have been significant to Ramesses III, who aimed to secure Egyptian control over trade routes and resources. At the time, a wide range of goods, from spices to metals, was being transported through the Wadi Rum region back to Egypt.
Notably, other cartouches related to Ramesses III have been found along ancient Egyptian trade routes. In the 1970s, a similar inscription was found that indicates Ramesses III’s dominion over water sources and roads along the modern-day Egyptian-Israeli border. In 2010, another double cartouche was found on a rock face near Tayma in modern-day Saudi Arabia.
