The History of Egypt Podcast

How does Ramesses II stack up to his predecessors? Why did ancient writers connect him with the Trojan War? In this episode we explore tales of Ramesses, told in antiquity, and consider his legacy in the modern world. Music: Keith Zizza and Luke Chaos. Bibliography Brand, P. (2010a). Reuse and Restoration. In W. Wendrich (Ed.), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2vp6065d Brand, P. (2010b). Usurpation of Monuments. In W. Wendrich (Ed.), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5gj996k5 Brand, P. J. (2023). Ramesses II: Egypt’s Ultimate Pharaoh. Breasted, J. H. (1912). A History of Egypt. Bunsen, C. C. J. von. (1848). Egypt’s place in universal history: An historical investigation in five books (C. H. Cottrell, Trans.; Vols. 1–5). https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015050932519 Cooney, K. M. (2022). The New Kingdom of Egypt Under the Ramesside Dynasty. In D. T. Potts, N. Moeller, & K. Radner (Eds.), The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East, Volume III: From the Hyksos to the Late Second Millennium BC (pp. 251--366). https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190687601.003.0027 Davies, B. G. (1997). Egyptian Historical Inscriptions of the Nineteenth Dynasty. Edwards, A. B. (1899). A Thousand Miles up the Nile (2nd edn). https://archive.org/details/thousandmilesupn0000edwa_e0y7/page/n9/mode/2up Kelly, B. (2010). Tacitus, Germanicus and the Kings of Egypt (tac. Ann. 2.59–61). The Classical Quarterly, 60(1), 221–237. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40984750 Kitchen, K. A. (1982). Pharaoh Triumphant: The Life and Times of Ramesses II, King of Egypt. Lietzelman, H. (2014). Pharaonism: Decolonizing Historical Identity. Prized Writing 2014-2015, 46–51. Neville, J. W. (1977). Herodotus on the Trojan War. Greece & Rome, 24(1), 3–12. https://www.jstor.org/stable/642683 Said, S. (2012). 2 Herodotus and the ‘Myth’ of the Trojan War. In E. Baragwanath & M. de Bakker (Eds.), Myth, Truth, and Narrative in Herodotus (pp. 87--106). https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199693979.003.0003 Sourouzian, H. (1988). Standing Royal Colossi of the Middle Kingdom Reused by Ramesses II. Mitteilungen Des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo, 44, 229--254. Sourouzian, H. (2019a). Catalogue de la statuaire royale de la XIXe dynastie [Database]. https://www.ifao.egnet.net/bases/publications/bietud177/ Sourouzian, H. (2019b). Catalogue de la statuaire royale de la XIXe dynastie. https://www.ifao.egnet.net/publications/catalogue/9782724707571/ Tyldesley, J. (2001). Ramesses: Egypt’s Greatest Pharaoh. Wilkinson, T. (2023). Ramesses the Great: Egypt’s King of Kings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Loss and rejuvenation. Ramesses third decade in power was a time of death. The King's Great Wife Nefertari passed around year 25. Almost simultaneously, his mother Tuya, his second wife Iset-Nofret, and his eldest son Amun-her-khopeshef all passed to the west. We meet these figures, explore their tombs (including the amazing KV5), and trace their surprising legacies. Then, we recount the big event: in Year 30, Ramesses celebrated the first of his jubilees. A magnificent Sed Festival took place in Memphis... Logo image: gold bead of Iset-Nofret (Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain). Music by Keith Zizza https://www.keithzizza.net/, used with artist's permission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The tomb of Queen Nefertari is one of the masterpieces of New Kingdom funerary monuments. The tomb is stunningly preserved, with an array of exquisite images, evocative texts (from the Book of the Dead), and traces of her burial goods. In this episode we explore the sepulchre, its decoration, and its conservation in the modern era. Music: Ihab Mahna and Luke Chaos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the Cretaceous Period (c.100 million years ago) Egypt and North Africa were radically different environments. With vast tidal flats and mangroves, and a shallow sea, the continent fostered numerous animal and plant species. Creatures like Paralititan (sauropods); the sprinting Deltadromeus; the infamous Spinosaurus; and the newcomer Tameryraptor. These have been preserved in the fossil record from Egypt and other countries in North Africa. Today, we meet some of the inhabitants of this ancient landscape… Logo image: Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, by Paleogeeksquared, via Wikimedia. Animals mentioned in this episode: Paralititan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paralititan Deltadromeus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deltadromeus Mawsonia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mawsonia_(fish) Leptostomia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptostomia Spinosaurus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinosaurus Tameryraptor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tameryraptor Select references: Dal Sasso, C., Maganuco, S., & Iurino, D. (2014). Update on the internal structure of the snout of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus. Second North African Vertebrate Palaeontology Congress, Ouarzazate. Darwish, M. H., & Attia, Y. (2007). Plant impressions from the mangrove-dinosaur Unit of the Upper Cretaceous Bahariya Formation of Egypt. Taeckholmia, 27, 105--125. Hone, D., & Holtz Jr, T. R. (2021). Evaluating the ecology of Spinosaurus: Shoreline generalist or aquatic pursuit specialist? Palaeontologia Electronica, 24(1), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.26879/1110 Hone, D., & Witton, M. P. (2025). Spinosaur Tales: The Biology and Ecology of the Spinosaurs. Ibrahim, N., Sereno, P. C., Dal Sasso, C., Maganuco, S., Fabbri, M., Martill, D. M., Zouhri, S., Myhrvold, N., & Iurino, D. A. (2014). Semiaquatic adaptations in a giant predatory dinosaur. Science, 345(6204), 1613--1616. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1258750 Roach, J. (2001, May 31). “Tidal Giant” Roamed Coastal Swamps of Ancient Africa. National Geographic News. https://web.archive.org/web/20010605022420/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/05/0531_tidaldinosaur.html Sereno, P. C., Myhrvold, N., Henderson, D. M., Fish, F. E., Vidal, D., Baumgart, S. L., Keillor, T. M., Formoso, K. K., & Conroy, L. L. (2022). Spinosaurus is not an aquatic dinosaur. eLife, 11, e80092. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.80092 Smith, J. B., Lamanna, M. C., Lacovara, K. J., Dodson, P., Smith, J. R., Poole, J. C., Giegengack, R., & Attia, Y. (2001). A Giant Sauropod Dinosaur from an Upper Cretaceous Mangrove Deposit in Egypt. Science, 292(5522), 1704--1706. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1060561 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Divine intermediaries. Ramesses II commissioned many statues, some of which are among the largest ever quarried. From the halls of the Grand Egyptian Museum, to the bedrock of Aswan, we follow the King's development of a remarkable project. Colossal statues of the king, bearing distinct names and even their own priests, provided Ramesses' subjects with new intercessors between their world and the gods... Select Bibliography: Amer, A. A. M. A. (1996). Some Observations on the Statue-Cults of Ramesses II. Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities, 26, 1--7. Connor, S. (2017). La statua di Ramesses II. Connor, S. (2022). Ancient Egyptian Statues: Their Many Lives and Deaths. American University in Cairo Press. Habachi, L. (1969). Features of the Deification of Ramesses II. Augustin. Leblanc, C. (2019). Ramsès II et le Ramesseum: De la splendeur au déclin d’un temple de millions d’années. L’Harmattan. Price, C. (2011). Ramesses, “King of Kings”: On the Context and Interpretation of Royal Colossi. In M. Collier & S. Snape (Eds.), Ramesside Studies in Honour of K. A. Kitchen (pp. 403--411). Rutherford. Price, C. (2024). A Stela of Mery-Re, Chief of Works of (the Cult Colossus) Re-of-Rulers. In A. Cooke, S. Thomas, P. Wilson, N. Nielsen, & G. Godenho (Eds.), Landscapes: Studies in Honour of Steven Snape (pp. 247--254). Abercromby Press. Sourouzian, H. (1988). Standing Royal Colossi of the Middle Kingdom Reused by Ramesses II. Mitteilungen Des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo, 44, 229--254. Thomas, S. (2022). Ramesses Loved by Ptah: The Complete History of a Colossal Royal Statue. The American University in Cairo Press. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The ultimate pharaoh makes the ultimate agreement. In this interview, Prof. Peter Brand offers us his insights on the cultures of Egypt and Hatti around the time of the Year 21 Treaty. From the background details of diplomatic correspondence, to the larger context of empires at war, we deep-dive the history of this important treaty. Learn more about Prof. Peter Brand's work at https://memphis.academia.edu/PeterBrand. Find Prof. Brand's book Ramesses II, Egypt's UIltimate Pharaoh via Lockwood Press and all good retailers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices