Ramses the Great: Empire Builder (Full Episode) | Lost Treasures of Egypt | National Geographic

Key Concepts

Ramses the Great, Abydos, Cartouches, Foundation Deposits, Seti the First, Lapis Lazuli, 3D Scanning, Asasif Necropolis, Shabti, Hieroglyphics, Akhet, King Scorpion, Pharaonic Propaganda, Rammeseum, Grain Silos, Battle of Kadesh, Hittites, Peace Treaty, Abu Simbel, Apis Cult, Ptolemaic Period, Valley of the Kings, Apep, DB320 (Royal Cache).

Unlocking the Secrets of Ramses the Great

This video documents archaeological teams across Egypt as they uncover secrets behind the unprecedented success and enduring legacy of Ramses the Great, who reigned for 66 years and elevated the Egyptian empire to its zenith of wealth, culture, and power. His influence was so profound that nine subsequent pharaohs adopted his name, and he constructed more statues, monuments, and temples than any other pharaoh.

Abydos: Ramses' Early Reign and Sacred Connections

Dr. Sameh Iskander leads an excavation in the ancient city of Abydos, focusing on what is believed to be the first temple built during Ramses' reign.

• Establishing the First Temple: The team sought "foundation deposits" (offerings buried at construction start) to date the temple. Instead, they unearthed "cartouches" – oval markings with pharaohs' names. These cartouches bore two names: "Ramses Meri Amun" (his birth name) and "Ramses II" (his throne name). The presence of his throne name on the foundations definitively proves the temple was built during his reign, marking "his beginning" and the start of his legacy. The temple featured an imposing granite doorway, a courtyard with Osiris figures, and golden cartouches of "Ramses II, the chosen of Ra" in its foundations.
• Discovery of Ramses' Private Palace: Investigating a recently sealed doorway on the temple's south-western wall, Sameh's team discovered a walkway of limestone blocks leading away from the temple. At its end, they found Ramses the Great's private palace, a "find of a lifetime" that was covered by up to 4 meters of earth.
• Abydos' Significance and Religious Restoration: Abydos had fallen out of favor with previous rulers. Seti I (Ramses' father) and Ramses II chose to build there because early Egyptians believed the god Osiris was buried there, making it a sacred site. A relief known as the "King's List" in Seti I's temple showed multiple kings erased from history, described as "horrific kings" who abandoned old religions. Ramses aimed to "restore the old Egyptian religion," associating his dynasty with the revered god Osiris and early kings like Scorpion, whose tomb (dating 2,000 years before Ramses) contained treasures like 400 wine jars, an ivory scepter, an obsidian bowl, and the oldest examples of Egyptian writing (ivory tags).

Preserving Seti I's Legacy: 3D Scanning in the Valley of the Kings

Aliaa Ismail studies the magnificently decorated tomb of Ramses' father, Seti the First, in the Valley of the Kings.

• Evidence of Pre-Ramses Wealth: A stunning mural revealed blue pigmentation from "lapis lazuli," a pigment brought over 2,000 miles from Afghanistan. This indicates strong trade relations, wealth, power, and politics ("like China and America put together") in Egypt before Ramses' reign, suggesting Ramses' success was built on his father's achievements.
• Cutting-Edge Conservation: Tombs degrade once opened due to air and moisture. Aliaa trains young conservationists, including Mina Fahim Rezk, to preserve the tomb using "cutting-edge 3D scanning." The team meticulously assembled a huge scaffold, just inches from priceless murals (20 feet high), to calibrate a 3D laser scanner. The successful scan captured the tomb's surface in microscopic detail, creating records to understand, preserve, and protect the decorations for future generations.

Asasif Necropolis: Unearthing a Burial Chamber

Project director Fathi Yaseen and his team excavate a newly discovered shaft in the sprawling Asasif necropolis in Luxor, covering over 1,000 years of ancient Egyptian history.

• Initial Excavation and Finds: After two weeks without finds in the 30-foot deep shaft, rare pottery from Ramses' time was discovered, indicating a promising lead. A hole leading deeper into the ground was found, but its entrance was unstable.
• Discovery of Shabtis and Tools: At 30 feet deep, the team unearthed an exquisitely carved miniature statue, a "shabti," believed to come to life and serve the tomb's occupant in the afterlife. In total, 30 beautifully carved shabtis were found. Further excavation revealed tools used to excavate chambers, suggesting they were inches from a burial chamber.
• Safety Concerns: At 45 feet deep, a potential burial chamber was found, filled with debris. However, part of the ceiling had collapsed, raising safety concerns due to ancient geological disasters. Work was halted until a specialist could make the chamber safe.

El-Khawy: The Power of Early Hieroglyphics and Pharaonic Propaganda

Hieroglyphics experts John and Colleen Darnell investigate ancient inscriptions above a historic trade route in El-Khawy.

• Oldest Monumental Hieroglyphics: They discovered carvings depicting an ibis with two storks, forming "akhet," the ancient Egyptian word for horizon. These were not just pictures but "letters." By comparing them with records from King Scorpion's tomb, they confirmed these were over 5,000 years old, making them the "first monumental hieroglyphics ever discovered" and one of the earliest examples of written language.
• Royal Power and Propaganda: John deciphered the symbols: the akhet hieroglyph combined with a bull symbol conveyed "royal power equals solar power. The king on earth is as the sun in the sky." Colleen described these texts as "an ancient billboard" and "Pharaonic propaganda." Ramses leveraged this written language, developed during Scorpion's reign, to spread his empire's success and establish the "basis of authority on which Ramses II himself ruled."

Luxor (Rammeseum) and Abu Simbel: Economic Might, Diplomacy, and Engineered Divinity

Colleen Darnell explores Ramses' monuments for further clues to his success.

• Economic Foundation (Rammeseum): Ramses began building his mortuary temple, the Rammeseum, in the second year of his reign, featuring colossal statues to ensure his immortal soul was remembered. Crucially, vast vaulted chambers, "storage rooms [that] dwarf the stone temple," were found neighboring the temple. A hole in the roof indicated these were "grain silos," capable of storing "16,500 cubic meters of grain." This "phenomenal amount of wealth" could feed a "significant portion of Ramses' army" (estimated 20,000 men), demonstrating that economic resources were fundamental to Egypt's military victories and overall success.
• Diplomacy and Propaganda (Abu Simbel): At the mountain temple of Abu Simbel, Colleen examined Ramses' military prowess. Ramses consolidated his empire in the south and confronted the Hittites in the north. He famously recorded his "victory" against the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh (c. 1300 BC), one of history's largest chariot battles. While depicted as a massacre, it was more of a draw, leading to the "world's first recorded peace treaty." This mastery of diplomacy, rather than costly military campaigns, ushered in a "golden age for Egypt." Ramses, however, was a "master of ancient public relations," depicting himself as a mighty warrior (alone on his chariot, reins tied to shoot his bow) despite hieroglyphic texts mentioning his shield bearer, Mena, was with him.
• Engineered Divinity: In Abu Simbel's inner sanctum, Ramses placed his statue between Egypt's greatest gods. Twice a year, sun rays illuminate these figures, a clever trick to convey that he was the "living embodiment of the sun god." Colleen states, "Truly, here at Abu Simbel, Ramses II is not just a king, he is a god!"

The Enduring Cult of Ramses and the Fate of His Mummy

Back at Ramses' palace in Abydos, Sameh's team made a significant discovery regarding the mysterious niches.

• The Apis Cult Connection: Unlike randomly scattered skeletons, a "completely intact" bull skeleton was found ceremoniously buried in a niche. This matched the practices of the Apis cult, where a bull embodied the creator-god Ptah and was worshipped as an oracle. Ramses heavily promoted bull worship, reinforcing his divinity.
• A Millennium of Worship: Pottery fragments found around the bull skeleton dated to the "Ptolemaic period," a thousand years after Ramses' rule. This "amazing revelation" proved that "Ramses' cult lasted for a thousand years after his time," indicating that his palace remained a "divine place, a sacred place, where offerings are being made." This demonstrated Ramses' success in instilling his worship in the hearts and minds of his people, engineering his own path to greatness.
• Ramses' Final Resting Place: In the Valley of the Kings, Ramses' tomb (KV7) showed hieroglyphics of him slaying Apep (the chaos serpent), signifying his intent to take on cosmic duties in death. The tomb was damaged, and his mummy and riches were gone. John and Colleen followed a trail to a secret shaft in the cliffs, where an ancient painted message described reburials 3,000 years ago. Due to civil unrest and tomb raiding 150 years after Ramses' death, state officials secretly moved nearly 50 royal mummies, including Ramses', to a hidden location (DB320). Explorers discovered this royal cache in 1881, and John and Colleen found the small chamber where Ramses II's mummy rested for "about 28 centuries." His mummy was later moved to the Cairo Museum, where it is still on display, achieving a form of immortality as the "greatest pharaoh of this ancient civilization."

Conclusion

The archaeological investigations reveal that Ramses the Great's unparalleled success stemmed from a multifaceted approach: establishing his legacy from the very beginning of his reign, strategically connecting his dynasty to ancient sacred sites and early kings, leveraging the power of written language for propaganda, building immense economic wealth through agricultural control, mastering diplomacy to secure peace, and ingeniously engineering his own divinity through monumental architecture and solar alignments. His influence was so profound that his cult endured for a millennium after his death, and his mummy, despite being moved, continues to be a testament to his enduring immortality, allowing us to uncover the keys to his greatness even today.