How One Of Egypt's Mightiest Dynasties Destroyed Itself | Ancient Egyptian Family Feud | Odyssey

This channel is part of the History Hit Network. Stick around to find out more. Ancient Egypt brings to mind thoughts of splendor, grandeur, and treasure. It's extremely familiar to us through mummies, pyramids, and tombs, but not so often for the idea of internal family drama, much the same as many have today. Just slightly more sinister. Although there are more well-known stories from the ancient world that we think we are familiar with, there are many that don't seem to make it into the mainstream. We all know the overtold story of Tutankhamun. Don't get me wrong, I love any new information on that period of time, and it is always beautiful to look at. However, I want to tell a story that has not received much to almost no attention at all. As many of us know, just how much of a disaster the end of King Tut's family was, with all the politics and family strife. Although the next family line would be almost as complicated, if not more. The 19th dynasty, also known as the Ramesside period, is one of the only dynasties that we could possibly look at each successor's mummy, and using facial reconstruction, we can get an idea of the complete image of the family line. How did a young king and a female pharaoh bring about the final days of the Ramesside family? In this documentary, I will try and investigate the end of one of Egypt's largest families, and how the legacy of Ramses the Great came to an abrupt end. So, where do we start? The final pharaoh of the 18th dynasty was Horemheb. Horemheb basically seized the throne from Pharaoh Ai, who had succeeded Tutankhamun by marrying Tut's sister after Tut had died. Yes, I know this all sounds extremely complicated and dramatic, but what else did they have to do back then? Horemheb, who had no children, appointed Ramses I as his co-regent, and finally, as official successor. The founder of the 19th dynasty, Ramses I, was born to a noble family in the Nile Delta region of Avaris, which was the Hyksos capital just a few years prior, and was still occupied by many foreigners. His father was a troop commander, and his mother was the overseer of the Horem of Amun. History Hit is like Netflix, just for history fans. With exclusive history documentaries covering some of the most famous people and events in history, just for you. With documentaries uncovering the secrets of our earliest ancestors, to the enduring mystery of Rome's lost ninth legion, History Hit has hundreds of documentaries with unrivaled access to the world's best historians. We're committed to bringing history fans award-winning documentaries and podcasts that you cannot find anywhere else. Sign up now for a 14-day free trial, and Odyssey fans get 50% off their first three months. Just be sure to use the code ODYSSEY at checkout. Akhenaten disregarded all the other gods of Egypt in favour of his one and only god, Aten. Thus, by the time of Horemheb, the country was rapidly reinstalling all of the other gods of Egypt. The Hyksos, who were eventually expelled from their short rule of Egypt, had arrived around the 17th dynasty, over 100 years before Horemheb. The god that they found favouring was Set, the god of the desert, chaos, and foreigners. Ramses I was the high priest of Set. He was instrumental in the restoration of the old gods with Horemheb, through his position of high priest of Set, as well as knowing Horemheb prior to him being a pharaoh, as they both served in the army of Tutankhamun and Akhenaten. Ramses I was promoted to Horemheb's vizier when Horemheb, who was childless, saw that Ramses I had a son, Seti, and a grandson, Ramses, appointed him successor as he could see a strong religious and militaristic line of successors. Ramses I ruled as pharaoh for only around 17 months, and did not have time to finish his many building projects, which would be carried out by his son, Seti, and Ramses II. He was buried in a fairly modest yet lavishly decorated tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The background of the tomb images were painted with a blue-grey colour, indicating the wealth of Ramses. He is shown directly in some of the scenes with many of Egypt's main gods and goddesses, affirming the gods were back. The mummy of Ramses I was first taken to Canada, then the USA, but it is now back on display in Egypt at the Luxor Museum. He died as an old man in his late 60s. His face still shows much of his experience and character. Seti I, named after the god Set by his father and predecessor, Ramses I, ruled for around 15 years. His reign can be seen as the ultimate period in Egypt's history, with many people moving to Egypt from foreign countries, as the economy was booming. Seti began his military campaigns against the Hittites during his father's reign. He re-established the old routes of the delta via the fortresses en route to Canaan and Syria. During his reign, Seti fought several battles. He regained Nubia as a colony of Egypt, and went north all the way to Turkey to expand Egypt's empire. Seti and his son Ramses had a close relationship, and Ramses would be by Seti's side most of the time, where he was learning how to rule Egypt from Seti. At the age of 16, Ramses accompanied Seti on a campaign into the north, where they defeated the Hittites and the Amaru peoples. Seti also went into Lebanon, where he went to war over trees. As you come out of the Hypostyle Hall, on the side here, the battle of Seti I with Lebanon. And this battle was started about wood, because Seti wanted these specific trees from Lebanon, and the Lebanese did not want to give it to Seti. So he went in, he fought against them. You can see Seti riding in on his horse and his chariot, killing the people, fighting, and then eventually at the top, the leader of Lebanon surrendering and giving the trees over to Seti. And this was built by Ramses II to tell the story of his father. He wanted people to remember what his father did. And if you come around the corner, here we see Seti riding back on his chariot, showing different battles that he was fighting against, against all the other people that were opposing Egypt. And as he comes here, we see Seti crossing the Nile. And this is a great image because we see the Nile, we've got the reeds on either side, and in between we have fish and crocodiles. That's how you know it's the Nile. And as he comes back, the people of Egypt are offering bread and incense to Seti. He's got his captives, and here is Seti giving offerings back to Amun, saying, thank you, Amun, for giving me the strength to fight my battles. All of the campaigns would be successful for a short period, as by the time of Ramses II, when he became king, battles were a necessity to maintain Egypt's wider borders. Seti and his queen really instilled upon Ramses that it was extremely important to have as many heirs to the throne as possible, in order to keep the family line on the throne for as long as possible. But was this the right direction to go in? As we will find out, having all these family members does not always equate happy families. How did a family of such strong rulers have their powers washed away under the waters of the Nile? In year 11 of Seti's reign, he elected Ramses II as co-regent. Thus, by the time Ramses, when he became pharaoh, he was well aware of what was required to make his rule a success. Seti began extravagant building projects throughout the land. If their legacy was in stone, it would last forever. That is actually how we know so much about this period in history. You have to remember that this is a new family, and they were not of royal birth. This could be why they had to go out of their way with war and buildings, to prove to the people of Egypt that they were worthy to be their kings and queens. Seti I built at Luxor and Karnak by expanding and starting the Hypostyle Hall, and making the almighty god of the Egyptians, Amun, the center of their world again. He also built at Aswan, Komombo, his mortuary temple on Luxor's west bank, and buildings at almost every major site in the land. Yet his biggest building project was at Egypt's most ancient and holy site. Abydos. The temple of Abydos. Here Seti showed the wealth and splendor of Egypt, and at the same time reaffirming its devotion to the gods. During the old kingdom, already 1000 years before Seti I, Abydos was the primary burial place for Egypt's first kings, and is known as the burial place of the god Osiris. Because Seti died young, around the age of 37, he did not complete his buildings. Even his own tomb, which would become the deepest tomb in the Valley of the Kings, would not be completed. Seti's mummy is extremely well preserved, and is one of the only mummies from ancient Egypt that really gives us an idea of what an ancient Egyptian really looked like. Seti lived until he was about 37, and his cause of death is not entirely certain, although for the ancient Egyptians, living to 37 years old is actually quite a good old age, as the only average age was around 30 to 40 years old. Seti's mummy really allows us to imagine how handsome he really was. Seti I has one of the most beautifully preserved faces. He's very regal looking and looks incredible. So when he was CT scanned recently, it was discovered that he has a lot of subcutaneous packing. This is in the face, in the neck, abdominal area, and various other parts of the body. So this is actually what creates his fantastic, realistic looking mummies. He looks amazing. When Seti died, his son, Ramses II, became pharaoh. Born in the same town as his father and grandfather, Avaris, Ramses was clearly exposed to several cultures at a young age. Already well-educated by his father on how to rule, Ramses became one of Egypt's best pharaohs. Ramses' mother, Muttoi, was still alive by this time. She trained Nefertari, Ramses' first and chief wife, into becoming the ultimate queen. She also made a point of teaching Ramses and Nefertari the importance of producing many heirs to the throne. Ramses is famed for having over 100 children from various wives that we know of. But was this a wise decision? Ramses took up the challenge of completing all of his father Seti's building projects. We even have Ramses' words on how much these buildings meant to him. I have scarred both the upper and lower lands for only the finest craftsmen to complete my temples and those of my father Seti. Ramses used only the best to finish off all of his temples, starting with the Hypostyle Hall at Karnak. He completed the Seti Osiris Temple at Abydos, even dedicating a section to his grandfather, Ramses I. Then Ramses began his own building projects, building up and down the Nile. He built his temple next to Seti's at Abydos. And in Thebes, Ramses II built his mortuary temple, where we really get a sense of his vast family. And even a scene showing his grandfather, Ramses I, writing his name and giving it over to Ramses II, handing on his royal name. Even though we don't have Nefertari's complete mummy, we get an idea of what she looked like. Ramses had many wives, but Nefertari was held above all. He built temples, statues, and the most beautiful tomb to her. In the tomb, we have the best idea of what she looked like. We know the Egyptians drew mostly in profile. However, using a frontal view of the eye. Many people think that ancient Egyptian art all looks the same. That could be because it is all so familiar to us. But by looking at the finer details to the trained eye, you can actually notice the differences between the depictions of different people. Like I said before, we can only imagine what Nefertari would have actually looked like. However, using her profile and statues and the depictions of her that we have, we can create a composite of what she could have looked like. Now, from the reign of Ramses II, we find that the colour of the mummy itself changes. So that dark brown blackened appearance of earlier mummies completely disappears during the Ramesside period. We also find a huge amount of resin is used. We find that resin is used to seal the eyelids. Sometimes we find wax in the ear. We even find nasal tampons that are saturated in resin once spray is extracted. So it's an interesting stage of mummification. Ramses is famed for his military prowess. And more so for his large family. But ultimately, for his long reign. We know from Nefertari's tomb that it was actually her who chose the consul for her husband. In essence, the more wives, the more children, the more heirs to the throne. And that meant that the legacy of the Ramessides would carry on for centuries. At least, that was the idea. The 18th dynasty prior did not really marry out of royal bloodlines. And that was what ended their legacy. The Ramessides, being non-royal, could in fact marry people from other families. Which helped their bloodline to remain stronger. Ramses II lived into his 90s. His wife Nefertari had already died earlier in his life. And their children had also passed to meet with Osiris. Ramses II, who is probably one of the most famous mummies from the Ramesside period. His mummy also displays signs of being embalmed to a very high standard. He was first studied by Grafton Elias Smith during the early 1900s. And then in 1976, he was taken to France to undergo conservation treatment. And recently, he's been CT scanned. So he's been studied extensively. So we know quite a bit about him. So what we find is that his brain has been removed. And his cranial vault has been filled with molten resin. We also find that he probably died between the ages of 87 to 92. And he should have had grey hair. But his hair's actually been dyed sort of a reddish blonde. Now it was initially thought that this could be the result of mummification. Whereby the natron has dyed his hair blonde. But a study was conducted by Egyptologist Janet Davey. And she found that natron, even mixed with henna, cannot dye the hair blonde. So it couldn't have been because of the mummification process. So it could be that the embalmers dyed his hair deliberately to make him look youthful for the afterlife. Everybody wants to look their best in the afterlife. It could even be that Rameses himself was dyeing his hair during his own lifetime. It's difficult to say. But we do see other mummies from the New Kingdom period with this fabulous blonde hair. So who knows? Maybe it was just a colour fashion at that time. But we do know that Rameses himself, his natural hair was red. Before it went grey, it was red. When I first saw the mummy of Rameses II in person, I stood in front of him and I cried. I could not move for about 10 minutes. You hear so many stories about this man. But to actually stand in front of him, sort of face to face, it was as if he was speaking to me across thousands of years. And the strange thing is, there are so many men in Egypt that bear a striking resemblance to Rameses the Great. We have to remember he lived into his 90s and did age. We all age. It would be Rameses' 13th son from his second wife, Iset Nofret, who would eventually succeed him. Meren Petah, the fourth pharaoh of the 19th dynasty. During his father's life, he became the overseer of the army and was ultimately named as Rameses' successor in year 55 of Rameses' reign. Meren Petah was trained by Rameses and probably fought in battle with Rameses at least once. He was probably around 60 years old when he became pharaoh. In his fifth year, Meren Petah went to battle against the Sea Peoples, who had formed an alliance with the Libyans. This battle was a success for the Egyptians, who were able to keep their enemies at bay. He was married to his probable full sister, named after their mother, Iset Nofret. They had a son, Seti II, and a daughter named Tawasret. It is believed that Meren Petah was married to Takhat, and they had a son who would cause many internal family issues. Named Amun-Messi. Meren Petah did build and erect statues, but nothing on the scale of Rameses the Great. He is known to have a well-decorated mortuary temple between the Ramesseum and the temple of Amun-Hotep III. However, today it lies in complete ruin. Meren Petah died in his 70s and was buried in a large and lavishly decorated tomb, based on a similar design to his father Rameses II and his grandfather Seti I. In the tomb, the full glory of the dynasty is evident, with Meren Petah at the centre, with the gods. In only a few short years, their dynasty would encounter a sharp decline. Not because of war or economic problems, but because of family jealousy. Meren Petah's mummy is quite unique, the paint being applied to his face, particularly the eyeliner and eyebrows, which give us an indication of what the pharaoh actually looked like. Around his neck is a thin chain with what appears to be gold coins. He probably received this from Greece and chose to be buried with it as a reminder of his and his father's good relations with the Greeks. Unlike his father Rameses and his grandfather Seti, Meren Petah does not appear to have had red hair. Upon Meren Petah's death, a short period of chaos ensnared Egypt. The general time of mummification is 70 days. In this period, Egypt is almost left in a state of limbo. Anything could happen. Meren Petah's son, Seti II, was meant to become the pharaoh. Although, with such a large family that Rameses had left behind, a direct son of Rameses II would probably have seen himself as a better fit for the heir rather than the late pharaoh Meren Petah's son. And as we know, Rameses had many sons who would have wanted the crown for themselves. This period in history becomes extremely complicated and hard to pinpoint the exact facts and chronology. Seti II was named pharaoh. However, within the first year of rule, a rather obscure man named Amun-Mesi left Egypt divided. Some suggest that Amun-Mesi was the son of Takhat and Meren Petah, making Amun-Mesi the brother of Seti II. Yet some believe that he was the actual son of Rameses II, who felt that he was the rightful king and not Seti II. Although Seti II was named as heir by his father Meren Petah, it appears that some in the court supported Amun-Mesi. And thus crowned Amun-Mesi as pharaoh. Seti II and Tawasret, believed to be siblings, appointed a man named Bey as chancellor. He was almost likely from Syria. Bey probably helped to remove Amun-Mesi from the throne and place Seti II back as full pharaoh over Egypt. Did Seti II kill Amun-Mesi, his own brother or uncle? Or did Chancellor Bey have something to do with the disappearance of the obscure short-lived pharaoh? But what physical clues did Amun-Mesi leave behind during his short reign? According to the cartouche, it belonged to Seti II, but originally it was by Amun-Mesi. Both of them had a struggle and conflict ruling, one at the north, one at the south, Nubia, Amun-Mesi. And then Amun-Mesi had six statues in this Hypostyle Hall at Karmak. And then it was taken by Seti II. It's very rare and it's far away from, as you can see, the name of Seti II, and then Seti Mary in Beta. But actually, he left one of the clues as his statue. Over here, the mother of Amun-Mesi and the wife of Seti II, Ta-Khaed. Still over here, with the two titles as a queen, as a princess and as a royal wife, The statue's head is now in the Met Museum in New York. We all know that families can have feuds and fights. However, this event seems to be a lot more sinister. No one is sure what happened to Amun-Mesi or how he died. We do not even have his mummy. It is accepted that Amun-Mesi shared his unfinished tomb with Ta-Khaed, presumed to be his mother and his probable wife, Baket Wernel. In his six years of being pharaoh, Seti II then made his move to remove all traces of Amun-Mesi, a foul reminder of his unfortunate reign. Probably extremely hurt by what a family member was capable of. Seti II never completed his tomb in the Valley of the Kings. However, the elements of the tomb remain and exude beauty and do not suggest any of the turmoil of his reign. He died in his late 40s. We do have his mummy today, which allows us to see one of the definite last members of the Ramessides. Although there were still many members of Ramesses II's family left to claim pharaohship, it appears that Chancellor Bey was determined to help keep the line of Seti II on the throne and thus had made provisions to have a young boy named Siphtah, a son of Seti II from a minor wife, to be crowned as pharaoh. Siphtah was too young to be a real pharaoh to a now failing Egypt. Someone older and more experienced was needed to help Siphtah rule and maintain order against the ever-approaching enemies who had focused in on Egypt's increasing weakness. Tawazret, the wife and sister of Seti II, took the role of co-regent. It was not uncommon for a mother or even a stepmother to step in for a young pharaoh to help rule and make decisions. Hatshepsut, the stepmother of Thutmose III, stepped in for her young stepson and finally she was named as full pharaoh, leading Egypt through some of its most precious times. Although Thutmose was a healthy young man who could control the military around 300 years before Tawazret and Siphtah. Tawazret did not have the security to lean back on. Siphtah was a very ill young boy who did not do much. She had to be in complete control. However, did Tawazret want to be more than just a co-regent? It does appear that the Chancellor Bey did make an attempt to take the throne. However, this was stopped by Tawazret. An ostraca found at Deir el-Medina tells us that Bey was executed in year 5 of Siphtah's reign. Why would he have been executed unless he had done something that went directly against the state? The ostraca suggests he was executed directly on orders of the pharaoh. On this day, the scribe of the tomb, Peyser, came announcing Pharaoh has killed the great enemy, Bey. Bey was afforded a tomb though in the Valley of the Kings. A place that was only for royalty apart from the burials of Tuya and Yuya, the grandparents of Tutankhamun. Clearly, Siphtah was indeed grateful to Bey for helping to secure his place on the throne. And thus awarded him a tomb, a great honor and a sure fast track to the afterlife. However, Bey was never buried in his tomb. It was later adapted for a prince from the next ruling family. Only two short years after the execution of Bey, Siphtah's health became rapidly poorer and he eventually died around the age of 20. Siphtah's mummy is presumed to have been found in a mummy cache and if the records of his age and health suggest, the mummy of the young man with deformed legs matches that of Siphtah. Siphtah's mummy even matches the resemblances of the family of Ramses II. Even having light wavy reddish blonde hair. Siphtah's mummy was studied again by Grafton Elliot Smith. And Smith, he studied a lot of mummies. He carried out a lot of autopsies. What he found with Siphtah, he found shortening of one of his legs and he also found gross deformity in his ankle. Having looked at this, Smith thought that perhaps he'd suffered from poliomyelitis. The only problem with this diagnosis is that the presence of poliomyelitis in ancient Egypt is still inconclusive. So we're not sure. The untimely death of Siphtah cannot be seen as suspicious. However, it worked perfectly for his stepmother. Who did not have to contest with the now executed Bey and her deceased predecessor. She became a fully fledged pharaoh. As you might have guessed, in Egypt, a female pharaoh was not always accepted. Women had many rights, but they wanted a man to be in charge of the affairs of the country. Tawasret's Egypt was a far cry from the glory of her great ancestor Ramses II. The workers protested, food supplies were running out and the enemies from the north and south were approaching the borders to claim Egypt's lands for themselves. Tawasret ruled for a further two years, not knowing how to save Egypt. With family members fighting amongst themselves, she had no real support. Civil war had broken out and people were up in arms over the state of Egypt. Ramses split family members joining smaller groups and all vying for their own power. Egypt was in crisis. The family line was so far spread out that no one knew who was meant to be the rightful heir to the throne. At the end of two years as full pharaoh, Tawasret died, only to be succeeded by the founder of the 20th dynasty, Setnakti. Now, we do not know if she died of natural causes or not. It only takes a stretch of the imagination. With all the uprising, it is possible that Setnakti was the grandson of Ramses II from a minor family line, hence why Setnakti was able to get power to seize the throne of Egypt. Setnakti's son was named Ramses III and a long line of pharaohs after were named after their great ancestor, Ramses II. Maybe as a way to try and bring back the prosperity that was around only a few years before. Tawasret had her own tomb prepared, an extremely beautifully decorated tomb, which she had extended from a tomb started by Seti II. However, she was not laid to rest in the tomb. Setnakti claimed the tomb for himself and altered many of the scenes showing himself rather than the female pharaoh who had preceded him. Tawasret's presumed mummy was found in a cache along with Sipta. She was found with many pieces of exquisite jewelry, rings, necklaces, bracelets, and diadems, all bearing her family members' names such as Ramses II, Seti II, Sipta, and herself. A silver bracelet was found with the mummy with a beautiful scene showing Tawasret and Seti II enjoying wine together. The mummy presumed to be Tawasret really indicates the beauty of a queen with her auburn hair curled into ringlets and what appears to be the indication that she had been wearing a tight cloth that was wrapped around her head that would have been worn under her crown. Is this the face of the final pharaoh of the Ramesside family? A female pharaoh fallen from grace, cut down out of pure jealousy. Tawasret. Why the 19th dynasty fell into decline? We have external causes for that. The peace treaty between Ramses II and Hattusid, the king of Hittites. After Ramses II passed away, the problems started. We have two powers rising up, Hittites and Assyrians. The Assyrians, they were enemy to Hittites. They wanted to gain power. So they controlled all the trade routes between Mesopotamia and Anatolia and also their influence extended until Syria and Palestine. And they dominated, controlled all the sources of copper. They moved to attack Cyprus and other islands in Aegean Sea to get the copper they needed to their industry. It provoked the sea people to attack the Hittites and their ally, the Egyptians. So they attacked all the commercial ports in Mediterranean Sea. They attacked the north coast of Egypt and also the eastern coast and also they cooperated and coordinated with the Libyans to attack the western side of Egypt. All of this happened during 30 years from Merian-Betah time until Set-Nakhet when he made his military call to finish all of this chaos and the inner conflict between the 19th dynasty and started a new dynasty. During the end of the Ramesside period, we find that the economy is not doing so well. People are struggling. So this results in a surge of tomb robberies. So when the royal tombs are inspected by priests from dynasties 21 and 22, they find that the royal mummies have been put out of their coffins and have been sort of tossed aside and they're in pretty bad condition. So the priests take them back to the embalming house and have them restored, re-wrapped, put back into coffins and then reburied. The 19th dynasty, a family line of rulers that started out from non-royal beginnings, raising Egypt to its ultimate zenith, was over planning Ramesses the Great's family to expand their own legacy too grand that the aim to not end up like Tutankhamun with no heirs, pushing them to produce as many children as possible. The exact reason that their own family turned on themselves. Ramses I, Seti I, Ramses II, Merenpetah, Seti II, Siptah and Tawasret. These are the faces of the rise and fall of the great family of Egypt.