Ramses III – A motive for murder

My most recent book following Meredith Pink’s Adventures in Egypt, Ramses’ Revenge, deals with the historical events surrounding the so-called Harem Conspiracy to murder Ramses III.

Ramses III ruled Egypt at the beginning of the 20th Dynasty of the New Kingdom, a little over a thousand years BC. It was a period of ancient Egyptian history about which I knew little beyond what is common knowledge to anyone with more than a passing interest in the subject, having been mostly fascinated by the 18th Dynasty pharaohs. But I knew from News headlines published in 2012, (about the time I was writing my first couple of books in the series) that Ramses III had been murdered. A 2012 CT scan on his mummy, revealed a deeply slit throat that would have killed him instantaneously. That the assassination of the divinely anointed ruler was plotted by one of his wives only added to the sense of intrigue and skulduggery. I determined there and then to learn more about this pharaoh who met with such a violent death. And the first germs of an idea for a novel started to spawn.

It’s impossible, of course, to project what we might call ‘personality’ onto an historical individual who lived and died more than three millennia ago. I started out thinking of Ramses III as a ‘victim’ of the Harem Conspiracy, led by one of his junior wives in a bid to place her son on the throne instead of the intended successor, the Crown Prince. But the more I researched the subject, the more it seemed to me that Ramses III was perhaps the architect of his own downfall. I also started to question the so-called ‘junior’ status of the queen who incited the conspiracy. Important men, it seems, rallied to her cause.

There are clues in the monuments left by Ramses III, in particular his spectacular Memorial Temple on the West Bank near Luxor now known as Medinet Habu Temple, that all may not have been well at his pharaonic court.

Ramses III aped his illustrious predecessor, Ramses The Great, in many things, and proved himself a mighty warrior Pharaoh. He is often dubbed ‘the last warrior pharaoh’. He repelled invading forces and kept the Egyptian empire largely intact at a time when the major empires of the Mediterranean and Near East were crumbling.

Like his predecessor, Ramses III had multiple wives (three concurrent principal wives that we know of) and, as a result, hoardes of children. While possibly not in quite the same league as his forebear, said to have had upwards of a hundred offspring, Ramses III copied his hero by carving his temple walls showing processions of royal princes and princesses. But there was one big difference…

Egyptologists state that in Ramses III’s lifetime, he left the label texts that would name his sons and daughters intentionally blank. Equally, of the known depictions of his queens on statuary or temple walls, only one image has the name and titles added. What are we to make of this ?

True, infant mortality was high. Possibly, the king was being circumspect. But it was a simple enough thing to re-carve the wall reliefs – other pharaohs did it all the time! So, one gets a sense of intrigue, of possible rivalry and jealousy; perhaps of different branches of the royal family being played off against each other by a wily old king.

I learned that three of Ramses III’s sons followed him on the throne of Egypt after his death. Each named himself ‘Ramses’ on his coronation (all still hoping some of the might and majesty of Ramses The Great might rub off on them!). These three sons all added their label texts (and presumably also named some of their brothers) to the procession showing the princely images on the wall at Medinet Habu. They became respectively Ramses IV, VI and VIII.

One might ask how it is possible for three brothers to succeed their father. But this makes sense when you learn that Ramses V and VII (grandsons of Ramses III) died young, without heirs.

In the procession of royal princes at Medinet Habu, one son of Ramses III is missing (or, at least, still unlabelled, or had his image usurped by another brother). This is the prince dubbed ‘Pentaweret’ – the young man the conspirator queen intended for the throne. This unfortunate young man was put to death (by enforced suicide rather than execution) when the Harem Conspiracy was foiled – although not in time to prevent the murder of the king.

On my recent visit to Egypt, I was determined to see this procession of princes for myself, having only ever read about it in books on Egyptology. This short clip shows me pointing them out (with apologies for some background noise).

The conspirators were rounded up by the Crown Prince, who became Ramses IV, and put on trial. The majority were summarily executed, with a favored few allowed to take their own lives. What became of the queen who incited the assassination is unknown … although my novel posits a suggestion.

Of course, nobody deserves to be murdered. But I do have to admit that I could start to see how Ramses III might have stirred up a hornets nest of hatred and anger that led to a plot to dispatch him.

When one also learns that the first recorded workers’ strike in history took place under his rule towards the end of his reign, it serves only to reinforce the impression that here was a pharaoh perhaps who failed to care for his people. Apparently the men who toiled in the Valley of the Kings, carving out the pharaoh’s tomb, downed tools and refused to work because they had not received their payment of grain supplies, and were hungry. All this, so we are told, while the king boasted about the great feasts he held in his palace. Considering the palace adjoining the Medinet Habu Temple was within plain sight of the workers’ village in the cliffs of Deir el Medina – probably possible to smell the meat juices cooking – one can sympathize with their discontent.

So, perhaps the conspirators felt confident their plan to remove the king would be met with a groundswell of approval among the local people. And maybe this dissatisfaction among the populace explains why the Medinet Habu has the feeling of a fortified temple, surrounded by an impregnable, thick boundary wall.

There are records showing that the Nile floods failed in the latter years of Ramses III’s reign, possibly as a result of an explosive volcanic eruption on the other side of the world. Not his fault, for sure; but perhaps an economic downturn needing a different style of leadership. So, my overwhelming impression, having researched the man, is that Ramses III would not have won any popularity contests in the latter part of his reign.

The murder of the king is said to have taken place in the royal harem which was located in the Eastern High Gate in front of the Medinet Habu Temple, shown in one of the pictures below.

Temple of Ramses III — Ramses III column, Medinet Habu

Wall relief — Ramses III column, Medinet Habu

Ramses’ Revenge is the tenth book in my series and sets out to look for the motive and means behind the Harem Conspiracy that led to the assassination of Ramses III. As with all the books in the series, it is set in the present day, but has an ancient mystery at its heart.

Fiona Deal, author of Meredith Pink’s Adventures in Egypt – Mysteries of modern and ancient Egypt – all available on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk in both Kindle and paperback.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Carter's Conundrums

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Tutankhamun’s Triumph.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Hatshepsut’s Hideaway.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Farouk’s Fancies.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Akhenaten’s Alibi.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Seti’s Secret.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Belzoni’s Bequest.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Nefertari’s Narrative.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Ramses’ Riches.

Karnak’s Colored Columns

One of the things that struck me most on my recent visit to Luxor was to see just how much work the Egyptian authorities have done during the pandemic to clean, conserve and restore Egypt’s ancient monuments. In the almost-two-years since my last trip, it was great to see the opening of the Avenue of Sphinxes, the excavation of the Memorial Temple of Amenhotep III and the cleaning of Esna Temple to reveal its wonderful colored columns and ceiling. I have posted separately about all of these recently.

It’s fair to say though that seeing the work at Karnak Temple possibly impressed me the most.

I first visited Karnak as a 17-year old in 1984. I remember being staggered by its unimaginable size and the sheer gigantic scale of everything. Naturally, the Hypostyle Hall with its 134 towering sandstone columns made the biggest impression on me. I recall our guide telling us the temple was originally fully painted. I craned my neck back and peered up at the undersides of what remains of the roof, squinting to see the remains of the original color on some of the reliefs shaded from the bleaching effects of the sun. I tried to imagine what the entire temple must have looked like painted in bright hues. Tried, and failed.

Well, I’m happy to report that it no longer needs a stretch of the imagination to picture what it must have looked like. The authorities have used the last number of months to work on the enormous columns of the central colonnade to restore some of their color. It’s been subtly done. This short video shows you what it looks like now:

It’s not just the columns of the Hypostyle Hall that have been lovingly restored. I was also pleased to see the ram-headed sphinxes lined along both sides of the Open Court had received some much-needed attention. Our Egyptian friend told us that it was only when two of the sphinxes were removed and taken to Tahrir Square that the authorities realized quite how much they were in need of some TLC.

As ever, a visit to Karnak never disappoints. So, hats off to the Egyptian Antiquities Ministry for all the effort they continue to put into making the open-air museum of Luxor such a thrilling and rewarding place to visit.

With apologies to my English readers for the spelling of the word C O L O U R !! The text automatically converts to the American spelling, even when I try to change it back 🙂

Fiona Deal, author of Meredith Pink’s Adventures in Egypt – Mysteries of modern and ancient Egypt – all available on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk in both Kindle and paperback.

Esna Temple Cleaning and Conservation

There was a time not so long ago when a fair amount of imagination was needed to picture what the ancient Egyptian temples must have looked like when originally built and painted. Over recent years, however, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities and Tourism has led major programs of work to clean, conserve and, in some cases, renovate and restore the temples.

On my recent trip to Egypt I was keen to visit Esna Temple for the first time to see some of this cleaning and conservation work for myself. Located approximately 50 miles south of Luxor on the West Bank of the Nile, the temple is dedicated to Khnum, a god of the Nile who moulded the “ka” on his potters wheel.

Esna is the last temple built in Egypt in the traditional style, a Ptolemaic temple dating from the Graeco-Roman period. It was completed under the Roman Emperor Decius in circa 250 AD. As with all Ptolemaic temples, it was built on the site of an earlier shrine, this one dating from the reign of Thutmosis III in the New Kingdom. The temple sits in a hollow pit some 9 meters below ground level with the modern town enclosing it on all sides. Only the hypostyle hall has been excavated, with remains of the rest of the temple still buried under the surrounding streets.

This short video clip shows the approach to the temple through narrow streets lined with market stalls, and you can see how the temple sits in a pit surrounded by the modern town.

Arriving Esna Temple

A team was there working hard on the cleaning and conservation work as this next short clip shows:

Cleaning Esna Temple

The work cleaning the capital-headed columns and the astronomical ceiling is revealing some stunning colors as this gallery of photographs shows. So it’s no longer necessary to use your imagination to see what the temple must have looked like when originally carved and painted.

What also sets Esna Temple apart is some of the unique reliefs carved into the walls and columns. On the northern wall the pharaoh is shown hunting wild birds, beautifully carved in raised relief into the sandstone.

These next carvings are unlike anything I have seen on temple walls before… as I understand it depicting a hymn to Khnum.

There is also a depiction on one of the columns of the Emperor Trajan dancing before the goddess Menhet, and another of an Emperor presenting a garland. And finally, on the outer wall apparently the only image in Egypt of a man riding a horse.

All in all, a fascinating visit to an atmospheric and evocative temple being restored to something of its former glory. And, of course, for a writer of fiction such as myself, impossible not to imagine what might be waiting to be discovered buried for millennia under the modern town that surrounds it. Surely, there must be a story there …

Fiona Deal, author of Meredith Pink’s Adventures in Egypt – Mysteries of modern and ancient Egypt – all available on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk in both Kindle and paperback.

An ancient temple emerges from the sands of time

On a recent trip to Luxor in November 2021, it was fascinating to see the excavations of the ancient Memorial Temple of Amenhotep III. It’s possible to walk along the road behind the famous Colossi of Memnon and look across the excavation site. A few statues have been found and reconstructed. Others remain shattered or in blocks awaiting re-assembly.

Amenhotep III (the ‘Magnificent’) ruled in the mid-18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom, at the height of Egypt’s empire period. His Memorial Temple dates from circa 1350 BCE. When originally built, it was the largest temple structure of its kind. Even the later mortuary temples of Ramses II (the Ramesseum) and Ramses III (Medinet Habu) could not compete for size. When Amenhotep III was constructing his mortuary temple, even Karnak Temple was smaller.

People ask why so little now remains of this once gargantuan temple. Firstly, it seems the temple was very badly damaged in an earthquake that shook the Theban mortuary area in circa 1200 BCE. Huge fissures opened in the ground apparently causing complete statues to tumble into them. Another devastating earthquake occurred in circa 27 BCE. These account for much of the destruction. But it is also the case that successive pharaohs had no compunction about dismantling the structures of former rulers and re-using their stones in the construction of their own monuments. It seems Amenhotep’s memorial temple may have been particularly targeted as a quarry for future generations of builders.

All of this makes it especially fascinating to witness the modern excavation work and see the once mighty temple re-emerging from the sands of time.

In this short video clip, you can see the excavation site as it looks in late-2021 (with my apologies for the traffic noise !)

I have been visiting Egypt for a number of years. The photographs below show the Colossi of Memnon, originally with nothing but farmland behind them , then cordoned off and, more recently, with the excavation work in progress.

I very much hope that, on my next trip, it will be possible to see even more progress…

Fiona Deal, author of Meredith Pink’s Adventures in Egypt – Mysteries of modern and ancient Egypt – all available on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk in both Kindle and paperback.

Locations in Ramses’ Revenge

Ramses’ Revenge - Book 10 - hi-res Egypt remains on the red list for travel from the UK while the pandemic still rages across the globe. This means we Brits can travel there in an emergency only. So I have been consoling myself with my photo albums, revisiting past trips. Many of the awe-inspiring archaeological sites and ancient monuments on both banks of the Nile have provided locations for key scenes in my travel series following Meredith Pink’s Adventures in Egypt. There are now ten books in the series. They are modern mystery-adventure stories, all with an ancient Egyptian mystery at their heart. So if you, like me, are missing the opportunity to travel freely, you might like to join me on this spin through some of my favorite places in the mystical land the pharaohs.

I have now reached the last in this series of travelogues as I am now on book 10 in the series. Published in early June this year, 2021, Ramses’ Revenge is Merry’s most recent adventure.

The majority of the action takes place at the impressive temple of Medinet Habu on the West Bank near Luxor. This was the mortuary temple, or “Mansion of Millions of Years” of Pharaoh Ramses III. It has long been known that Ramses III was the victim of a Harem Conspiracy, led by one of his wives, to replace him on the throne with her son. But it was long believed that the pharaoh survived the attempt on his life – although dying soon afterwards. Then, in 2012, the CT scan on his preserved mummy revealed a deeply slit throat, a wound so vicious it must certainly have killed him instantly. My story seeks to unravel the circumstances surrounding this violent chapter in Egypt’s royal past. It provides the identities and motivations of some of the key protagonists in the ancient murder-mystery.

Medinet Habu is the best preserved of the truly ancient temples. It dates from the early 20th Dynasty of the New Kingdom, some 1,100 years BCE. Its fantastic state of preservation is largely thanks to its use as the headquarters of the West Bank necropolis in ancient times, meaning it wasn’t dismantled so its stones could be re-used in other building projects, which was the fate of many of the memorial temples dating from this period. Much of the original color can still be seen, audit’s possible to get a sense of what the temple would have looked like when brightly painted and intact. There are some fantastic wall carvings, many showing Ramses III’s successful war campaigns against the ‘Sea Peoples’.

Troops marching to battle, north rear pylon, Medinet Habu Temple

Original color in Medinet Habu Temple

First courtyard, Medinet Habu Temple, Ramses III

Ramses III smiting enemies, main pylon, Medinet Habu temple

Ramses III, Medinet Havu Temple

Hypostyle Hall, Medinet Habu Temple

Colonnade, Medinet Habu Temple, showing original colour

Colonnade, Medinet Habu Temple

Ramses III wall relief, Medinet Habu Temple

Forecourt and First Pylon, Medinet Habu Temple

Eastern High Gate, Medinet Habu Temple

Fiona Deal Medinet Habu Temple Forecourt

Medinet Habu Temple Forecourt

Fiona Deal, Medinet Habu, temple of Ramses III

Southern perimeter wall and palace of Medinet Habu, temple of Ramses III

Fiona Deal, Open Court at Medinet Habu, temple of Ramses III

The Eastern High Gate, Medinet Habu Temple of Ramses III

Here are some typical scenes of the local people going about their business; scenes Merry sees every day as she has made a home in Egypt.

Gurna, West Bank, Luxor

Luxor road scene, West Bank

Riverbank scene in Egypt

Nile cruise in Egypt

River Nile fishing at dusk

River scenes in Egypt

Riverbank scenes in Egypt

River scene in Luxor

One of the key scenes in the book takes placate Karnak, where the action unfolds in the Barque Temple of Ramses III and the Temple of Khonsu, which was commissioned by Ramses III.

Fiona Deal outside Khonsu Temple, Karnak

Inside Khonsu Temple, Karnak

Fiona Deal inside Khonsu Temple Karnak

Reconstruction, Karnak Temple

Karnak Temple, Luxor

Barque Temple of Ramses III, Karnak

Mudbrick ramp, Karnak Temple

As ever, it wouldn’t be a Meredith Pink book without a visit to one of Luxor’s iconic hotels. This time, the charming Al Moudira Hotel, tucked away discreetly on the West Bank in the foothills of the Theban Mountains.

Author Fiona Dealt The Moudira hotel, West Bank, Luxor

Al Moudira hotel grounds, West Bank, Luxor

Al Moudira hotel, West Bank, Luxor

There is also a visit to the Valley of The Queens, where it’s possible to see tombs of sons of Ramses III who died before their father. The wall reliefs show the pharaoh introducing his dead son(s) to the Gods and Goddesses of the ancient Egyptian Pantheon.

11B71CC4-DF38-4537-B957-AA99FDCCF168_4_5005_c

One of the sons of Ramses III

And so, my series (so far) and my photographic tour through favorite memories and locations for key scenes in my books has come to an end. I plan soon to start writing book 11, with more planned for the future.

I hope you have enjoyed looking at my pictures, and that you might consider joining Merry & Co on their adventures in Egypt. If so, I suggest you start with the first in the series, Carter’s Conundrums.

Fiona Deal, Author of Meredith Pink’s Adventures in Egypt, fiction books all available on Amazon. To join Merry on her adventures please click on each picture for the link.

Cover of Carter’s Conundrums. Book 1 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Tutankhamun’s Triumph. Book 2 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Hatshepsut’s Hideaway. Book 3 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Farouk’s Fancies. Book 4 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Akhenaten’s Alibi. Book 5 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Seti’s Secret. Book 6 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Belzoni’s Bequest. Book 7 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Nefertari’s Narrative. Book 8 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Ramses’ Riches. Book 9 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

Location pictures from Farouk’s Fancies

I am taking a trip down memory lane, looking at treasured photographs of my travels in Egypt, since it’s not currently possible to visit for real due to the global pandemic. Many of the fabulous places to see in Egypt have formed the backdrop location for key scenes in my fiction series following Meredith Pink’s Adventures in Egypt. Merry is good at getting herself into scrapes. She’s also good at unlocking secrets from ancient Egypt’s mysterious past. Set in the present-day, I think of my books as ancient mysteries wrapped up in modern adventure stories.

Book 4 in the series, Farouk’s Fancies, moves the action on from where we left Merry at the end of Book 3. She is now living onboard a dahabeeyah. These are traditional Nile sailboats, pioneered by Thomas Cook when he first started taking paying tourists to see the splendors along the Nile. He took the basic design from prototypes carved onto the tomb and temple walls in Egypt. Smaller and more intimate than the modern cruise boats, they are able to visit more sites along both banks of The Nile, offering an alternative for discerning travellers.

Dahabeeyah on The Nile

Much of the action in Farouk’s Fancies taken place in the wonderful Winter Palace Hotel. Dating from the 1880s, this is where the Earl of Carnarvon stayed while he and Howard Carter were searching the Valley of the Kings for Tutankhamun’s Tomb. I don’t imagine much has changed in the public areas since their day. I imagine they could walk into the Lobby through the big wooden revolving door and still recognize it and feel very much at home.

Merry attends a lecture held in the huge Victorian Lounge, given by an author who is setting out his theories about how Pharaonic Egypt links to the Old Testament of The Bible.

Winter Palace Hotel, Luxor

Victorian Lounge, Winter Palace Hotel, Luxor

Winter Palace Hotel, Luxor

There is a mystery attached to an illusive old lady who lives in a suite of rooms at The Winter Palace, leading off one of the lofty corridors.

Corridor, The Winter Palace Hotel

When a visitor to Luxor goes missing, Merry and her companions meet in the beautiful grounds of The Winter Palace hoping he might put in an appearance.

Gardens, Winter Palace Hotel, Luxor

Gardens and pool, Winter Palace Hotel, Luxor

Gardens, Winter Palace Hotel, Luxor

One of the key scenes in the book takes place in The Western Valley, a remote branch of the famous Valley of the Kings. Merry is good at marching in where angels would fear to tread, and this is no exception! There are a few royal tombs in the Western Valley, including that of Pharaoh Ay, who came to the throne after the death of Tutankhamun.

The Western Valley

The action shifts back to The Winter Palace hotel, where Merry inadvertently spends a rather uncomfortable afternoon outside on a window ledge, from where she has to be rescued.

View from The Winter palace Hotel

The Lobby of The Winter palace Hotel, Luxor

The Grand Staircase in the Lobby of The Winter Palace Hotel, Luxor

Corridor in The Winter Palace Hotel, Luxor

The Lobby of The Winter Palace Hotel, Luxor

Finally back on board the dahabeeyah, Merry realists she has all the pieces to wrap up this latest puzzle. I hope you’ve enjoyed looking at my Egyptian photo album, and that you might consider reading my books, all available on Amazon. If so, I suggest you start with Book 1, Carter’s Conundrums.