Ramses III, Ramses also spelled Ramesses or Rameses, (died 1156 bce, Thebes, Egypt), king of ancient Egypt (reigned 1187–56 bce) who defended his country against foreign invasion in three great wars, thus ensuring tranquillity during much of his reign. In his final years, however, he faced internal disturbances, and he was ultimately killed in an attempted coup d’état.

Son of Setnakht (reigned 1190–87 bce), founder of the 20th dynasty (1190–1075 bce), Ramses found Egypt upon his accession only recently recovered from the unsettled political conditions that had plagued the land at the end of the previous dynasty. In the fifth year of his reign, a coalition of Libyan tribes invaded the western Nile River delta on the pretext that the pharaoh had interfered in their chief’s succession. The Libyans had in fact encroached upon Egyptian lands, a perennial problem during the 19th and 20th dynasties, and were soundly defeated in a battle in the western delta.