Almost all of the translations in this book come from the very beginning of the Egyptian Ramesside era at the beginning of the 13th century bc—either from the reign of Ramesses I (c.1295–1294 bc), founding father of the 19th Dynasty, or that of his dynamic son and successor Sethos I (c.1294–1279 bc). As Ramesses I reigned only into his second year, and the reign of Sethos I lasted between eleven and fifteen years, virtually everything here dates within a span of only twelve/seventeen years, at most. Arranged by category, these translations cover foreign wars and diplomacy (esp. dated), then internal affairs (dated documents, special topics or groups), a geographical series of royal monuments (from north to south), the principal documents of the reign (papryi, ostraca, letters, legal documents, and the like), in addition to further inscriptions pertaining to the royal family. A further twenty-eight categories are devoted to the private monuments of the principal administrators of the Empire, along with the vast store of documentation pertaining to the activities of the royal artisans from the village of Deir el-Medina in western Thebes. First published in 1993 by Blackwell Publishers (Oxford & Cambridge, Mass.), this volume has been completely re-designed and is issued here for the first time in a handsome softback version.