Twentieth Dynasty in the context of "Bronze Age Collapse"

Usermaatre Heqamaatre Setepenamun Ramesses IV (also written Ramses or Rameses) was the third pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. He was the second son of Ramesses III and became crown prince when his elder brother Amenherkhepshef died aged 15 in 1164 BC, when Ramesses was only 12 years old. His promotion to crown prince is suggested by his appearance (suitably entitled) in a scene of the festival of Min at the Ramesses III temple at Karnak, which may have been completed by Year 22 [of his father's reign]. (the date is mentioned in the poem inscribed there)

As his father's chosen successor, the prince employed three distinctive titles: "Hereditary Prince", "Royal scribe" and "Generalissimo." The latter two titles are mentioned in a text at the temple of Amenhotep III at Soleb and all three titles appear on a lintel now in Florence, Italy. As heir-apparent he took on increasing responsibilities; for instance, in Year 27 of his father's reign, he is depicted appointing a certain Amenemope to the important position of Third Prophet of Amun in the latter's TT 148 tomb. Amenemope's Theban tomb also accords prince Ramesses all three of his aforementioned sets of royal titles. Despite the 31-year reign of his father Ramesses III, Ramesses IV was only 21 when he became pharaoh, and only reigned for six and a half years. His rule has been dated to 1155 to 1149 BC.

Located in the Valley of the Kings, Tomb KV12 is an unusual tomb, used originally in the Eighteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, and then again in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties. It was probably used for multiple burials of royal family members, similarly to KV5.

The builders of KV9 broke unintentionally into KV12 whilst excavating that tomb. James Burton, who visited the tomb in the 1820s or 1830s, recorded the presence of mummified remains.