The History of Egypt Podcast

Moves and counter-moves. In the aftermath of Kadesh, Muwattalli (King of Hatti) seems to consoldiated hold over Syria. Border territories like Amurru fell to Hittite influence. At…

Holy mountain. Around 1286 BCE, builders started work at Abu Simbel. Sacred to a local form of Horus, this sandstone mountain would become one of the most famous monuments in the N…

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 pap…

Our final part of the Kadesh story is Ramesses' art. Wall carvings, on major temples, present the pharaohs' summary of Kadesh and the conflict. They include many fun details, inclu…

My guest today is Dr. Colleen Darnell, who will speak to us about New Kingdom literature (featuring rulers like Ramesses, Thutmose III, Seqenenra, and more). It’s a fun discussion,…

Heavy Metal Hittites. This is a preview of my "rock musical" version of Kadesh. Full version available at patreon.com/c/egyptpodcast. Song produced by Hermanubis (aka Luke Chaos ht…

The war of the words. Following his strategic defeat at Kadesh, Ramesses set about putting his version of the story into wide circulation. Today, art and texts of this conflict sur…

Why is the Battle of Kadesh so famous, compared to other ancient conflicts? What can we take away from Ramesses' account in terms of "truth" vs "rhetoric." And what did it all up t…

Who won? In the aftermath of battle, Ramesses and Muwattalli withdrew from Kadesh. We discuss the short- and long-term fallout and consider the "score card" for the respective armi…

In June of 1287 BCE (approximately), one of antiquity’s great conflicts unfolded in southern Syria. Meeting near Kadesh (Qidsha), the armies of Egypt and Hatti fought each other in…

Ramesses, Muwattalli, and the Trojans(?). In June of 1287 BCE, the Great Kings of Hatti and Egypt were on the verge of a major confrontation. Ramesses, marching across Sinai and in…

Preparing for Kadesh. In 1287 BCE (late in his fifth regnal year) King Ramesses II departed Egypt on campaign. His target? The city of Kadesh / Qidsha in southern Syria. The Kadesh…

Leading up to the Battle of Kadesh (c.1287 BCE) betwen Ramesses II of Egypt and Muwatalli II of Hatti, we need to understand the background. Why was this city the epicentre of such…

We learn how to insult someone in ancient Egyptian, based on the surviving texts... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Heart of Darkness at Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham. Far from the Nile Valley, on Egypt’s northern coastline, Ramessid soldiers and civilians constructed a significant fortress to control t…

Explicit content. There's a factoid floating around on the internet. It claims that, to ensure fertility and good harvest, pharaohs would ejaculate into the River Nile. Where did t…

Hapi was Egypt. The life-giving waters of the annual flood (inundation) were his work; and thanks to these waters, Egypt flourished, its people were fed, the gods received their of…

What did ancient Egyptians like to smell? Did they use any narcotics in their day to day lives? And what do mummified bodies smell like? Today, I'm pleased to welcome Dora Goldsmit…

Ramesses II defends his borders. In the early years of his reign, Ramesses focussed on home defence. His army established new forts at remote locations along the western Delta and…

Ramesses goes back to school. Luxor Temple is a magnificent monument, in a city full of them. The sanctuary you visit today is, in large part, the work of Ramesses' early reign. Ne…