RAMSES VII

flourished 12th century BC king of Egypt (reigned 113729 BC), whose reign is known chiefly from several important economics papyri. Two documents, one a ship's log and the other an account concerning the shipment of grain taxes to Thebes, have been assigned to the reign of Ramses VII. One reveals that the vast estates of the god Amon, scattered throughout Egypt, collected a large sum in taxes that was forwarded to his temple at Thebes, while the other text indicates that during this reign prices of commodities rose over earlier 19th- and 20th-dynasty levels. Beginning in the fourth year of his reign, grain prices specifically climbed sharply to triple their former levels. At the same time, however, both documents illustrate that Nile River traffic was passing unimpeded between Upper and Lower Egypt. Another fragmentary economics papyrus has been sufficiently reassembled to show that Ramses VII reigned seven years. It also confirms the inflation attested in the other documents. A tomb excavated for Ramses VII in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes still contains his empty sarcophagus.