Show Notes
Daily Life in Ramessid Egypt (Part 1). Starting around 1300 BCE, the (surviving) corpus of written documents from Egypt begins to increase dramatically. It's not clear why, but papyrus and ostraca are far more abundant for this era than anything before. Thanks to these records, we get many glimpses of daily life and personal concerns, from the society of the time; and we can enjoy some Small Stories of life in Ramessid Egypt.
Logo image: Dancers and musicians from the 18th Dynasty tomb of Neb-Amun, now in the British Museum (via Wikimedia Commons public domain). The dancers wear "string" garments that may be the ruwedj referenced by Ise in her letter to her sister.
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In 2025 I did an interview with the AskHistorians podcast, a reddit-based show where specialists discuss history and major questions about their fields.
Siptah, Tausret, Setnakht. Between 1205--1202 BCE, the royal house of Ramesses II crumbled into illegitimacy. After Siptah, the queen Tausret declared herself pharaoh. Her reign leaves tantalising traces. But shortly after, a man named Set-Nakht ("Seth is Victorious") seized the throne and inaugurated the 20th Dynasty. Subsequently, he and his successors declared the late 19th Dynasty a period of "empty years," lacking legitimacy, with no true ruler.
Siptah & Chancellor Bay. The last years of Dynasty 19 are murky, with hints of disorder and violence. At the centre of affairs, the courtier Bay directed policy and controlled access to King Siptah. Pharaoh himself was sickly, possibly disabled. The power-shift culminated in a rather dramatic break...
Tausret, Siptah, Bay, and the case of Paneb. By 1210 BCE, the southern rebellion was dying down, but trouble was far from over. The courtier Bay appears on the scene, first as an agent of Sety II, then as a "kingmaker" in his own right. Tausret increases her power, becoming a regent figure (like Hatshepsut). The young ruler Siptah, physically enfeebled and of uncertain heritage, provides a veil of legitimacy for a new triumvirate.
Between 1215 and 1211 BCE, Egypt was divided. A rebellion in the south, launched by Amen-messe "Born of Amun" disrupted the succession of Sety II, son of Merneptah. Records from this shadowy period hint at violence and corruption in Waset/Luxor, as the usurper took control and established a new regime. The impact of this conflict would have long-lasting ramifications for the 19th Dynasty...