Seti (commander)

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Seti (also called Suti) was an ancient Egyptian soldier and the commander of the army in the late 18th Dynasty. He later appears as vizier on monuments of his son Paramessu, who would become pharaoh Ramesses I. Seti came from a military family in the Nile Delta and is considered an ancestor of the 19th Dynasty.

There are theories about his identity. One proposes that he is the same as the royal envoy Šuta mentioned in the Amarna letters. Another theory suggests he had a brother named Khaemwaset, who is the same person as the Royal Fanbearer and Chief of the Bowmen of Kush named Khaemwaset; this Khaemwaset is shown on a statue dating to Tutankhamun’s reign. Khaemwaset’s wife Taemwadjsy is thought to be the Taemwadjsy who was mistress of the Harem of Amun and possibly sister to Amenhotep called Huy, Viceroy of Kush. This idea is based on a fragmented votive stela now in the Oriental Institute in Chicago (OI 11456).

The fragment is about 115 cm wide and 65–70 cm tall. Its upper part shows a seated man and woman; only their feet survive. The lower part shows three figures in Amarna-style clothing, with Khaemwaset and Ramose. The inscription reads: “an offering to the ka of Osiris-Suti, Commander of the Troops of the Lord of the Two Lands.” However, many scholars think the stela dates to Amenhotep III’s time, which would be too early for this identification. The reading of the name Ramose on the stela is doubtful, and Amenmose is considered a more likely reading.