Editing Ramesses III (section)

==Legacy==
The Great Harris Papyrus or [[Papyrus Harris I]], which was commissioned by his son and chosen successor [[Ramesses IV]], chronicles this king's vast donations of land, gold statues and monumental construction to Egypt's various temples at [[Piramesse]], [[Heliopolis (Ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]], [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]], [[Athribis]], [[Hermopolis]], [[Thinis|This]], [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]], [[Coptos]], [[Eileithyiaspolis|El Kab]] and various cities in Nubia. It also records that the king dispatched a trading expedition to the [[Land of Punt]] and quarried the copper mines of Timna in southern Canaan. Papyrus Harris I records some of Ramesses III's activities:

{{blockquote|I sent my emissaries to the land of Atika, [i.e., Timna] to the great copper mines which are there. Their ships carried them along and others went overland on their donkeys. It had not been heard of since the [time of any earlier] king. Their mines were found and [they] yielded copper which was loaded by tens of thousands into their ships, they being sent in their care to Egypt, and arriving safely. (P. Harris I, 78, 1–4)<ref>A. J. Peden, ''The Reign of Ramesses IV'', Aris & Phillips Ltd, 1994. p.32 Atika has long been equated with Timna, see here B. Rothenburg, ''Timna, Valley of the Biblical Copper Mines'' (1972), pp.201–203 where he also notes the probable port at Jezirat al-Faroun.</ref>}}
[[File:Medinet Haboe Reliëf.jpg|right|thumb|Medinet Habu temple relief of Ramesses III]]

Ramesses began the reconstruction of the [[Temple of Khonsu]] at [[Karnak]] from the foundations of an earlier temple of [[Amenhotep III]] and completed the Temple of [[Medinet Habu (temple)|Medinet Habu]] around his Year 12.<ref>[[Jacobus Van Dijk]], 'The Amarna Period and the later New Kingdom' in ''The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt'', ed. Ian Shaw, Oxford University Press paperback, (2002) p.305</ref> He decorated the walls of his Medinet Habu temple with scenes of his naval and land battles against the [[Sea Peoples]]. This monument stands today as one of the best-preserved temples of the New Kingdom.<ref>Van Dijk, p.305</ref>

The [[mummy]] of Ramesses III was discovered by antiquarians in 1886 and is regarded as the prototypical Egyptian Mummy in numerous Hollywood movies.<ref>Bob Brier, ''The Encyclopedia of Mummies'', Checkmark Books, 1998. p.154</ref> His tomb ([[KV11]]) is one of the largest in the [[Valley of the Kings]].

In 1980, James Harris and [[Edward F. Wente]] conducted a series of X-ray examinations on New Kingdom Pharaohs crania and skeletal remains, which included the mummified remains of Ramesses III. The analysis in general found strong similarities between the New Kingdom rulers of the [[Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt|19th&nbsp;Dynasty]] and [[Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt|20th&nbsp;Dynasty]] with [[Mesolithic]] Nubian samples. The authors also noted affinities with modern Mediterranean populations of Levantine origin. Harris and Wente suggested this represented admixture as the Rammessides were of northern origin.<ref>{{cite book |title=An X-ray atlas of the royal mummies |date=1980 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |isbn=0226317455 |pages=207–208}}</ref>

In April 2021 his mummy was moved from the [[Museum of Egyptian Antiquities]] to the [[National Museum of Egyptian Civilization]] along with those of 17 other kings and 4 queens in an event termed the [[Pharaohs' Golden Parade]].<ref name=Parisse>{{cite news |last=Parisse |first=Emmanuel |date=5 April 2021 |title=22 Ancient Pharaohs Have Been Carried Across Cairo in an Epic 'Golden Parade' |url=https://www.sciencealert.com/22-ancient-pharaohs-have-been-carried-across-cairo-in-an-epic-golden-parade |work=ScienceAlert |access-date=5 April 2021}}</ref>