Sethi

Sethi, Pharaoh of Egypt
Race	Egyptian
Homeland	Egypt
Father	Rameses I, Pharaoh of Egypt
Spouse	Tuya, Queen of Egypt
Children	Rameses II, Pharaoh of Egypt

“	You have restored Egypt to her greatness. I shall make her greatness feared among nations.	”
—Rameses II to Sethi

Sethi, the son and heir of Pharaoh Rameses I of Egypt, was Pharaoh of Egypt before the Exodus of the Hebrews, succeeding his father Pharaoh Rameses I as pharaoh. His mother was Queen Sitre, and his sister was Princess Bithiah. Sethi I's consort was Tuya the mother of his son Rameses II who succeeded him as pharaoh.

During his regime he was known for leading major successful battles such as the Battle of Kadesh where he defeated the Amorites, and for authorizing other military campaigns such as the siege of Saba and the conquest of Ethiopia, both led by his nephew Prince Moses, Commader of the Souther Host.

Biography

Early life

Sethi was born during the reign of his father Pharaoh Rameses I. His mother was Queen Sitre, being the elder brother of Princess Bithiah. During his youth, he was proclaimed Crown prince by his father, and married Bithiah's maidservant Tuya during that time also. Bithiah later widowed, and Sethi's father Rameses I ordered the massacre of the male Hebrew infants.

To save the life of her son from this massacre, the Hebrew slave woman Yochabel set her unnamed three-month-old son afloat on a pitch-covered basket on the River Nile. The slave woman later sent her daughter Miriam to check on the infant, and the she later spotted the child being held by Princess Bithiah. The princess' maidservant Memnet, upon seeing the child's Hebrew-patterned blanket, warned the princess of the child's true origin and stood up against the child's royal adoption. Headstrong in mothering the child, Bithiah confronted Memnet and obligated her to take an oath of silence. Memnet agreed, and Bithiah named the child, Moses, because she drew him from the water.

Bithiah later introduced Moses into the royal court of Egypt, where Sethi fathered him more than his own children. Around the same time, Sethi's son Rameses II was born, although Moses was still his favorite.

He had a sister named Bithiah, who became a widow during her youth and since childless adopted a Hebrew child whose mother set it adrift in a basket on the Nile River to save it's life from Sethi's father's edict against the Hebrew male children. Sethi raised Moses as his son also, and was his favorite besides his own son Rameses II whose mother was Queen Tuya. At the time that Moses was prince of Egypt, Sethi had also raised and befriended the throne princess Nefretiri.

Sethi was more like a father to Moses. He became pharaoh after his father died

Statue of Sethi in the City of Sethi's Glory.

Later life

When Moses' real heritage was revealed, Sethi did not worry about his race, but questioned his loyalty to him in not delivering the Hebrews. Moses' responded him in his deep sympathy for the Hebrews, and his chance to deliver them. Sethi therefore decreed that Moses' name be erased from the pylons, books, and tablets, and let his son Rameses II to order Moses' sentence, which turned out to be exile from Egypt into the Wilderness of Shur. He died soon after, and broke his own law by saying the name of Moses.

Death

Sethi in his deathbed, with Rameses and Nefretiri at his side.

Shortly after sending Moses into exile, Sethi went into a deep depression. In his deathbed, he confirmed that Rameses would succeed him as Pharaoh, and that his only regret was leaving behind his beloved daughter-figure, Nefretiri. Sethi also broke his own law of speaking the name of "Moses", pronouncing the name at least two times. He died after this, to which Rameses added "the Royal Falcon has flown into the sun".

Names

• Great Sethi
• Great One
• Great King
• Divine One
• Old Crocodile
• Royal Falcon

References

Pharaohs of Upper and Lower Egypt
Rameses I - Sethi I - Rameses II

Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt
Rameses I (pharaoh) - Sethi I (pharaoh) - Bithiah (daughter of pharaoh) - Moses (adopted crown prince) - Rameses II (crown prince) - Nefretiri (throne princess) - Rameses II's son (crown prince)