Ramses the Great's Queen Nefertari: Power, Diplomacy, and the Temple of Hathor

Ramses the Great's Queen Nefertari: Power, Diplomacy, and the Temple of Hathor

In episode 158, Lucas and Luna explore the life and legacy of Queen Nefertari, the Great Royal Wife of Ramses II. They discuss her political influence, her role in the Hittite peace treaty, and her divine status as a living goddess. The conversation delves into her temple at Abu Simbel, dedicated to Hathor, where she appears as tall as the pharaoh—a unique honor. They also examine her tomb in the Valley of the Queens, its exquisite wall paintings, and the mysterious 'she who must not be named' erased from history. Lucas highlights Nefertari's diplomatic correspondence with the Hittite queen Puduhepa and her possible role in the marriage of Ramses to a Hittite princess. The episode touches on her titles, including 'Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt,' and her identification with the goddess Hathor. Listeners learn about the discovery of her tomb in 1904 by Ernesto Schiaparelli and the ongoing conservation efforts by the Getty Conservation Institute. This episode offers a nuanced portrait of a queen who was both a political partner and a divine figure, whose legacy rivals that of her husband. #Nefertari #RamsesII #AbuSimbel #Hathor #ValleyOfTheQueens #Egyptology #AncientEgypt #GreatRoyalWife #Puduhepa #Hittites #PeaceTreaty #ErnestoSchiaparelli #GettyConservation #Pharaoh #Queen #History #FexingoHistory #NorthAfrica Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Ramses the Great's Vizier Paser The Power Behind the Throne

Lucas and Luna dive into the life and career of Paser, Ramses the Great's most trusted vizier. Paser served for over 30 years, overseeing the administration of Upper and Lower Egypt, managing the treasury, and supervising monumental building projects including the Ramesseum. Discover how Paser's inscriptions reveal the daily workings of pharaonic bureaucracy, his role in the judiciary, and his relationship with the king. Learn about the vizier's responsibilities, from tax collection to military logistics, and how Paser's tomb in Thebes provides a rare window into the lives of Egypt's elite administrators. This episode explores the complexities of power behind the throne, contrasting Paser's quiet influence with the more visible figures like the royal scribe Amenemope and viceroy Setau. #RamsesII #Paser #Vizier #AncientEgypt #EgyptianBureaucracy #Ramesseum #Thebes #Kemet #PharaonicAdministration #EgyptianHistory #NewKingdom #19thDynasty #NorthAfrica #FexingoHistory #History #AncientWorld #Egyptology #Podcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Ramses the Greats Architects: The Men Behind the Monuments

This episode of Fexingo History pulls back the curtain on the master builders who turned Ramses the Great's colossal visions into stone. Lucas and Luna explore the careers of two towering figures: the High Steward of Works Penre, who oversaw the construction of Ramses's mortuary temple and the cliffside marvel of Abu Simbel, and the High Priest of Amun Bekenkhons, whose autobiography on a statue at Karnak details his fifty-year rise from stonemason's apprentice to chief designer of the hypostyle hall. We examine the logistics of transporting 200-ton quartzite blocks from Gebel el-Silsila, the brutal life of quarrymen using dolerite hammers, and the precise astronomical alignments that made temples like Abu Simbel function as cosmic mirrors. We also unpack a scholarly debate: were these architects credited with divine inspiration, or did they manage a brutal system of forced labour on an industrial scale? The episode closes with a reflection on how Ramses's monuments outlasted his dynasty, but the names of the men who built them were nearly lost to history. #RamsesTheGreat #AncientEgypt #Penre #Bekenkhons #AbuSimbel #GebelElSilsila #Karnak #HypostyleHall #EgyptianArchitecture #Quarrying #Dolerite #ForcedLabour #MonumentBuilding #HighSteward #HighPriestOfAmun #Kemet #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Ramses the Great's Obelisks: Giant Needles of Power

This episode follows Lucas and Luna as they explore Ramses the Great's monumental obelisks — the towering granite needles he raised at Karnak, Luxor, and beyond. They unpack how these massive monoliths were quarried at Aswan using dolerite hammers, transported on Nile barges, and erected by sheer manpower and ingenuity. The conversation touches on the symbolic meaning of the benben stone and the sun god Re, the logistical challenge of moving a 323-ton block, and the fate of Ramses's obelisks today — including the one now in Paris at the Place de la Concorde and its twin still standing at Luxor Temple. They also discuss the unfinished obelisk at Aswan, which reveals the entire quarrying process, and how Ramses used obelisks as political propaganda, inscribing his names and victories to assert divine kingship. The episode highlights the rivalry with earlier pharaohs like Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, and the later Roman and European relocations that scattered these Egyptian wonders across the globe. #RamsesTheGreat #AncientEgypt #Obelisks #Karnak #Luxor #Aswan #Benben #Monolith #Dolerite #UnfinishedObelisk #PlaceDeLaConcorde #Pharaoh #Kemet #NewKingdom #Engineering #Quarrying #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Ramses the Great's Scarab Beetle Propaganda Machine

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore one of the most ingenious propaganda tools of Ramses the Great's reign: the commemorative scarab beetle. These small stone amulets, inscribed with royal announcements, were mass-produced and distributed across the empire and beyond — from the marshes of the Nile Delta to the palaces of Ugarit. We trace the evolution of the scarab from a simple seal to a sophisticated medium of state messaging, focusing on the famous series from Year 1 and 2 of Ramses's reign that celebrated his first Nubian campaign and the arrival of a rare wild bull. We examine the craftsmanship of the scarab cutters, the hieroglyphic texts that blend historical fact with divine propaganda, and the archaeological detective work that revealed these objects were manufactured in official workshops at Per-Ramesses. Along the way, we touch on the political context of Ramses's early years, the role of the god Khepri, and how these tiny artifacts shaped perceptions of the pharaoh's power for centuries. #RamsesTheGreat #AncientEgypt #ScarabBeetle #Khepri #PerRamesses #Nubia #Propaganda #Hieroglyphs #Amulets #NewKingdom #EgyptianArtifacts #FexingoHistory #LucasAndLuna #Ugarit #Kemet #Userrenputaanehktu #Archaeology #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]