MERNEPTAH (“beloved of Ptah”). — Pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty, also known as Meneptah or Mineptah, son and successor of Ramesses (Ramses) II, he reigned, according to the various chronologies, from 1234 to 1214, or from 1226 to 1206, or from 1244 to 1224; he fought against rebellious Southern Syria, against the Libyans, and against Nubia.
Four important inscriptions bearing the name of this king were discovered: the great inscription of Karnak, the Cairo column, the stele of Athribis, and the so-called “Hymn of Victory,” discovered at Thebes near the Colossi of Memnon (P. Lacau, in Cat. génér. des Antiquités du Caire, Le Caire 1909, no. 34025 verso), which celebrates, among other things, the subjugation of Gezer and Palestine and the destruction of Israel (l-s-r-r).
A long tradition, going back to Champollion Figeac, Lepsius, Brugsch, Mariette, and Maspero, and still having convinced adherents, identifies him as the Pharaoh of the Exodus (Ex. 1:14), not without opposition (v. EGITTO).
M.’s tomb was at Bibân el-mulûk (Thebes), his funerary temple near the Ramesseum; the sarcophagus is now in the Cairo Museum.