Ramesses V

Ramesses V ruled Egypt during the Twentieth Dynasty for approximately four years, from about 1149 BC to 1145 BC, with dates uncertain by about five years. He was the son and successor of Ramesses IV and reigned from the city of Pi-Ramesses.

His brief reign coincided with mounting internal instability, including economic pressures and corruption among provincial authorities. The primary administrative record from this period is the Wilbour Papyrus, a vast survey of agricultural land in Middle Egypt that provides modern historians with crucial details on temple estates, taxation, and land ownership during the late New Kingdom. The king was succeeded by his uncle, Ramesses VI.

Scholars know Ramesses V through surviving legal papyri, brief temple records, and his intended burial monument in the Valley of the Kings, KV9. His mummy was recovered from the royal cache in tomb KV35. The body is famous among medical historians because the face and torso display pustular lesions, widely interpreted by specialists as the earliest known physical evidence of smallpox.

Monuments

• KV9 (original)
• Wilbour Papyrus

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Try the name on the Cartouche Desk, or see where the reign falls on the timeline.