Birth name of two pharaohs of the 19th Dynasty, Seti I (reigned 1290-1279 BC) and Seti II (reigned 1204-1198 BC). Seti I strengthened Egypt's defenses by successful campaigns in Palestine and Syria. Seti did much to promote the prosperity of Egypt: fortified the frontier, opened mines and quarries, dug wells, and rebuilt temples and shrines that had fallen into decay or been damaged; and he continued the work begun by his father, Ramesses I, on the construction of the great hypostyle hall at Karnak, which is one of the most impressive monuments of Egyptian architecture. His greatest memorial is his mortuary temple at Abydos; his tomb is the finest in the Valley of the Kings in western Thebes. His son was Ramesses II. Seti II was the successor of his father, Merneptah, and was one of the last rulers of the 19th Dynasty.