Merneptah, pharaoh of Egypt

The 1200s BC is a decade that lasted from 1209 BC to 1200 BC.

Merneptah or Merenptah was the fourth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. According to contemporary historical records, he ruled Egypt for almost ten years, from late July or early August 1213 until his death on 2 May 1203. He was the first royal-born pharaoh since Tutankhamun of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt.

Pharaoh was a title of the monarch of ancient Egypt. The earliest confirmed instance of the title used contemporaneously for a ruler is a letter to Akhenaten, possibly preceded by an inscription referring to Thutmose III. Although the title only came into use in the Eighteenth Dynasty during the New Kingdom, scholars today use it for all the rulers of Egypt from the First Dynasty until the annexation of Egypt by the Roman Republic in 30 BCE.

Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip of Palestine and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west; the Gulf of Aqaba in the northeast separates Egypt from Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Cairo is the capital, largest city, and leading cultural center, while Alexandria is the second-largest city and an important hub of industry and tourism. With over 107 million inhabitants, Egypt is the third-most populous country in Africa and 15th-most populated in the world.