Show Notes
Ramesses and Hattusili (Part 2). After the marriage to a Hittite princess in Year 34, Ramesses II had much to offer his northern family. A visit from the King of Hatti's son, seeking food supplies, may relate to repeated hunger crises in Syria and Hatti. Pharaoh's support brought the two kingdoms closer together, although we must wonder if the Bronze Age Collapse has now begun... Finally a text known as the Bentresh Stela offers a fairytale memory of Ramesses' relations with Hatti.
Music: Keith Zizza.
Music: Luke Chaos.
==
Select References - Hattusili and Ramesses
Brand, P. J. (2023). Ramesses II: Egypt’s Ultimate Pharaoh.
Bryce, T. (2003). Letters of the Great Kings of the Ancient Near East: The Royal Correspondence of the Late Bronze Age.
Bryce, T. (2005). The Kingdom of the Hittites (2nd ed.).
Divon, S. A. (2008). A Survey of the Textual Evidence for “Food Shortage” from the Late Hittite Empire. In The City of Emar Among the Late Bronze Age Empires (pp. 101--109). Online.
Drews, R. (1993). The End of the Bronze Age.
Edel, E. (1994). Die ägyptisch-hethitische Korrespondenz aus Boghazköi in babylonischer und hethitischer Sprache I.
Hoffner Jr., H. A. (2009). Letters from the Hittite Kingdom.
Kaniewski, D., et al. (2020). Climate Change and Social Unrest: A 6,000‐Year Chronicle From the Eastern Mediterranean. Geophysical Research Letters, 47. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL087496
Klengel, H. (1974). “Hungerjahre” in Hatti. Altorientalische Forschungen, 1, 165—174.
Kuslu, Y., & Sahin, U. (2009). Water Structures in Anatolia from Past to Present. Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 5, 2109--2116.
Nougayrol, E., et al. (1968). Ugaritica V.
Owen, D. I. (1981). An Akkadian Letter from Ugarit at Tel Aphek. Tel Aviv, 8, 1--17. Online.
Singer, I. (2011). The Calm Before the Storm: Selected Writings of Itamar Singer on the Late Bronze Age in Anatolia and the Levant.
Select References - The Bentresh Stela
Erman, A. (1883). Die Bentreschstele. Zeitschrift Für Ägyptische Sprache Und Altertumskunde, 21, 54–60.
Kitchen, K. A. (1975). Ramesside Inscriptions Historical and Biographical (Vol. 2).
Kitchen, K. A. (1993a). Ramesside Inscriptions Translated and Annotated: Notes and Comments (Vol. 2).
Kitchen, K. A. (1993b). Ramesside Inscriptions Translated and Annotated: Translations (Vol. 2).
Posener, G. (1934). À propos de la stèle de Bentresh. Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, 34, 75--81. https://www.ifao.egnet.net/bifao/34/
Spalinger, A. (1977). On the Bentresh stela and related problems. Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities, 8, 11--18. Online.
Witthuhn, O., et al. (2015). Die Bentresch-Stele: Ein Quellen- und Lesebuch. Online. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from The History of Egypt Podcast
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...