The Ancients – “Ramesses the Great: Death of a Dynasty”

Date: March 1, 2026
Host: Tristan Hughes
Guest: Dr. Campbell Price

Episode Overview

In this episode of The Ancients, host Tristan Hughes continues his exploration of the Ramessid dynasty, focusing on the later years of Ramesses II (“Ramesses the Great”), his enduring legacy, and the subsequent decline of his dynasty. Egyptologist Dr. Campbell Price returns to discuss Ramesses II’s reign after the famous Battle of Kadesh, the evolution of his image as both king and god, and the dynastic challenges and geopolitical turmoil that followed his death. The discussion covers diplomacy, monumental building, theology, family politics, and the dynasty’s collapse, culminating in reflections on the fleeting nature of power.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Aftermath of Kadesh: Spin and Diplomacy

• Post-Kadesh Narratives (05:00–08:00):

  • Ramesses II’s “victory” at Kadesh was more spin than reality; although he didn't achieve a decisive win, he immortalized the event through temple carvings and inscriptions, believing that recording it in hieroglyphs made it true in the eyes of gods and people.
  • Quote:

    “By writing anything in hieroglyphs, which are known as the words of the gods, you make it so.” – Dr. Campbell Price (06:15)

• Diplomatic Solutions (08:00–11:00):

  • After years of indecisive fighting in the Levant, Ramesses shifted to diplomacy, culminating in one of history's earliest known peace treaties, sealed by diplomatic marriages with Hittite royalty. Notably, Egyptian princesses were never sent abroad; only foreign princesses joined the Egyptian court.
  • Quote:

    “It is acceptable for a non-Egyptian princess with a hefty dowry to come to Egypt, and that is considered a victory.” – Dr. Campbell Price (09:58)

• Symbolic Value of Territory (11:30–13:00):

  • Places like Kadesh possessed immense symbolic importance, spurring repeated campaigns even when military or economic value was limited.

2. Architectural and Military Innovations

• Strategic Relocation of the Capital (13:00–15:30):

  • Ramesses II moved his seat of power to Pi-Ramesses, near the Nile Delta's northeastern edge—a frontier city ideal for launching campaigns and defending against northern threats. The city featured enormous stables, barracks, and a cultic center for the deified king.
  • Quote:

    “You have this city, essentially an island that you couldn't attack…a kind of standing army waiting.” – Dr. Campbell Price (14:00)

• Nubian & Western Fortifications (16:00–17:30):

  • Fortresses were built or reinforced deep into Nubia (Sudan) and Libya’s border to secure Egypt’s southern and western flanks, demonstrating Ramesses’s far-reaching ambitions.

3. Cult of Personality and Monumental Building

• Monumental Obsession (17:45–18:45):

  • After diplomacy stabilized Egypt’s borders, Ramesses II focused on monumental construction, emphasizing quantity over quality over time, and embedding his name everywhere—from pyramids to temples.

• Deification and the Heb Sed Jubilee (24:00–26:00):

  • Approaching his 30th year (and thus a great jubilee), Ramesses reinforced his divinity through iconography, public ritual, and the worship of his colossal statues.

• Case Study: Abu Simbel (25:55–29:00):

  • The temple complex at Abu Simbel, with its four giant statues and adjacent temple to Queen Nefertari, embodied both military might and divine kingship. Statues depicted Ramesses as both god and warrior, presenting a blueprint for successors and submitting his image directly into the worship practices of his time.
  • Quote:

    “People should come and worship us because we are deserving of worship, like full gods.” – Dr. Campbell Price (26:18)

4. Family Politics and Succession

• Sons and Succession (29:22–34:00):

  • Ramesses II had at least 50 sons. Most died before him; succession eventually fell to his 13th son, Merneptah. Notably, Prince Khaemwaset—dubbed the “first Egyptologist”—immortalized both himself and his father by labeling ancient monuments and restoring the names of earlier kings.
  • Quote:

    “The son of a megalomaniac like Ramesses II… goes along and inscribes very deep, elaborate inscriptions... I, Prince Khaemwaset, have restored the name of this king…” – Dr. Campbell Price (30:13)

• Death, Legacy, and Fragility (34:00–39:00):

  • Despite long reign and prodigious offspring, Ramesses saw many close relatives die, with an aging and shrinking royal family by his death. The “Mansion of Millions of Years” (Ramesseum) was designed as a mortuary temple for his eternal cult, not his physical tomb.

5. The Dynasty’s Decline Post-Ramesses II

• Merneptah’s Challenges (41:34–47:00):

  • Merneptah, elderly upon accession, faced major external threats almost immediately—from Libyans, Sea Peoples, and Nubians. He is credited with significant defensive success, including the famous “Israel Stele,” but had little time to build monuments of his own.
  • Quote:

    “There is a sense of, you know, fighting against time.” – Dr. Campbell Price (43:51)

• Rapid Unraveling (47:30–50:45):

  • After Merneptah (c. 10 years later), a rapid succession of short-lived rulers ensued. Eventually, the 19th Dynasty collapsed altogether, with power struggles, backstabbing (notably the execution of Chancellor Bai), and ultimately takeover by new blood at the start of Dynasty 20.
  • Tawosret, a female pharaoh, marked the line’s termination before being usurped.

6. Ramesses the Great: Reputation, Legacy, and Modern Resonance

• The Fragility of Legacy (51:53–55:10):

  • Dr. Price and Tristan debate whether Ramesses II’s legacy was built to last: his monumental image and propaganda outlasted his dynasty, but his grand city (Pi-Ramesses) faded as the Nile shifted, and his cult diminished quickly after his death.
  • Quote:

    “He’s the greatest in the sense that he had most time to tell us he was great… He’s the loudest ruler.” – Dr. Campbell Price (54:06, 54:10)

• Physical & Cultural Legacy (55:10–57:00):

  • The mummy of Ramesses II survives, lending an afterlife to his legend—his face was widely circulated in postcards, and his monuments inspired works from Shelley’s Ozymandias to Iron Maiden album covers.
  • Memorable moment: Tristan reads Shelley’s “Ozymandias,” connecting the poetic meditation on hubris and ruin to the Ramesseum and Victorian fascination with fallen empires (56:55–58:10).

• Enduring Influence (59:49–60:32):

  • Later pharaohs invoked Ramesses’s name; even rulers centuries later adopted his throne name.

    “If you asked a king 500 years later who was the greatest pharaoh… it’d be difficult to choose between Thutmose III and Ramesses II.” – Dr. Campbell Price (60:03)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On propaganda and reality:

  “I'm very skeptical of using a modern term like propaganda... but that is in some ways maybe anticipating a victory that he thinks maybe he will have in actuality in the future, but that doesn't really matter. The gods know the truth, and he's carved it on the wall of the God's house.” – Dr. Campbell Price (05:27)

• On symbolic warfare:

  “If the Egyptians lose Kadesh to the Hittites, it’s not the end of the world...but because Kadesh has been in the control of Egyptians back in the 18th Dynasty, whatever its symbolic importance... almost like Stalingrad.” – Tristan Hughes (11:32)

• On dynastic downfall:

  “Within... three or four decades after the death of Ramesses II... his dynasty has come crashing down.” – Tristan Hughes (50:36)

• Final reflection on legacy:

  “He does have a legacy in that he gives his name to so many others... If there’s one name to learn, one cartouche to learn, it’s Ramesses II.” – Dr. Campbell Price (59:49, 56:36)

Important Segments & Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | Summary | |------------|------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------| | 05:00–08:00| Aftermath of Kadesh, myth-making, "propaganda" | Ramesses II spins the story of Kadesh as victory | | 08:00–11:00| Diplomacy and Hittite peace treaty | Diplomatic marriages, peace, and dowry negotiation| | 13:00–15:30| Pi-Ramesses capital and militarization | New city as border fortress and cult center | | 24:00–26:00| Heb Sed Jubilee and deification | Ramesses’s transition to divine status | | 25:55–29:00| Abu Simbel: architecture and theology | Temple as symbol of both divinity & military might| | 29:22–34:00| Succession: sons, favorites, and mortuary cults | Prince Khaemwaset and the great tombs | | 41:34–47:00| Reign of Merneptah and external threats | Sea Peoples, Libyans, Nubians; “Israel Stele” | | 47:30–50:45| Dynasty 19’s collapse: Tawosret & power struggles | Short reigns, female pharaoh, execution of Bai | | 54:06–54:10| Was Ramesses “the Great”—or just “the Loudest”? | Self-promotion as legacy | | 56:55–58:10| Shelley’s “Ozymandias,” Victorian Egyptomania | Legacy and the romanticism of ruin |

Conclusion

The episode offers a nuanced portrait of Ramesses II as both master of propaganda and monumental builder, whose reputation as “the Great” stems as much from his own spin as his real achievements. Dr. Campbell Price elucidates how Ramesses’s divine image and vast monuments masked the inherent fragility of his dynasty, which collapsed rapidly after his death. The episode concludes with a meditation on the impermanence of power and glory—a theme echoed from ancient stelae to modern poetry—with Ramesses’s legacy living on as an archetype for both greatness and hubris.