Latest / Ramses the Great: Egypt's Most Powerful Pharaoh — Fexingo History / Ramses the Greats Provisioning The Economy of Per-Ramesses
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Ramses's monuments, his battles, his family. But there's a quieter story behind all of it — how did he actually pay for everything? I mean, Abu Simbel didn't build itself. Luna: I've always wondered that. Like, where did the gold come from? And the food for thousands of workers? Lucas: Exactly. Behind the colossi and the temple walls was one of the most sophisticated economic machines the ancient world had ever seen. And it all revolved around the new capital, Per-Ramesses — 'The House of Ramses' — which he built in the eastern Delta. This was his command center, and it was a logistical wonder. Lucas: Per-Ramesses wasn't just a ceremonial capital. It was a massive industrial and administrative hub. Archaeologists have found evidence of huge grain silos, workshops for bronze casting, glass-making, textiles, and of course, chariot production. The city was designed to funnel resources from across the empire. Luna: So it was like a giant supply chain headquarters. Lucas: Exactly. And at the top of that supply chain was the vizier — the pharaoh's right hand. Under Ramses, the vizier was a man named Paser. He oversaw everything — the treasury, the granaries, the cattle census, the labor force. Every year, the vizier would receive reports from every nome — that's a province — in Egypt, detailing the harvest, the livestock, the taxes due. Lucas: The tax system was based on the agricultural surplus, measured in units called the khar — that's about 76 liters of grain. Farmers paid a portion of their harvest, and that grain was stored in state granaries. Then it was redistributed to the workers, the priests, the army, the royal workshops. Luna: So grain was basically currency. Lucas: In a way, yes. Egypt didn't mint coins until much later, under the Ptolemies. So the economy was a barter system, but grain was the standard of value. Wages were paid in bread and beer. The workers at Deir el-Medina — the village that built the royal tombs — they were paid in grain, fish, vegetables, and occasional bonuses like oil or cloth. Lucas: And the scale was staggering. For the construction of the Ramesseum — Ramses's mortuary temple — thousands of laborers were employed. They needed to be fed, housed, clothed. The state organized massive bakeries and breweries right on site. One inscription mentions a daily ration of 10 loaves of bread, 2 jugs of beer, and a portion of meat for each worker. Luna: That's not bad pay, actually. Lucas: Right? It was a well-organized system. But the resources didn't just come from the Nile Valley. Ramses also launched expeditions far beyond Egypt's borders. One of the most famous was to the land of Punt — probably somewhere in the Horn of Africa. The Egyptians brought back incense, myrrh, frankincense, ebony, ivory, and exotic animals. There's a relief at Deir el-Bahari showing the Puntite expedition from Queen Hatshepsut's time, but Ramses continued that tradition. Lucas: Closer to home, he sent mining expeditions to the turquoise and copper mines at Serabit el-Khadim in the Sinai. The turquoise was used for jewelry and inlay work, and copper was essential for tools and weapons. The inscriptions left by the expedition leaders give us a glimpse into the logistics — hundreds of men, including miners, soldiers, scribes, and cooks, trekking through the desert with donkeys carrying water and supplies. Luna: And the gold came from Nubia, right? Lucas: Yes, the gold mines of the Eastern Desert and Nubia were crucial. We talked about that in the Nubia episode. The gold was brought to Per-Ramesses and stored in the treasury, then used for everything from temple decorations to diplomatic gifts. Ramses sent gold to the Hittite king Hattusili III as part of their alliance after the peace treaty. Lucas: But even with all that, Egypt wasn't self-sufficient. They needed timber — especially cedar — from Byblos in modern-day Lebanon. The ships that sailed the Mediterranean brought back logs for construction, and also resins for mummification. And copper came from Cyprus — the ancient name for Cyprus was Alashiya, and it was a major source of copper. Luna: So trade was a huge part of it. Lucas: Absolutely. And it was all carefully recorded by scribes. We have papyri from the period that list shipments of wine from the vineyards of the Delta, deliveries of fish from the Nile, and consignments of linen from the temple workshops. Nothing was left to chance. The bureaucracy was immense, but it worked. Lucas: One of the most fascinating details comes from the workmen's village at Deir el-Medina. The workers there kept records of their own — ostraca, which are pottery shards with writing. They recorded days worked, supplies received, even complaints. One ostracon mentions that the workers went on strike because their rations were late. This is the first recorded labor strike in history, by the way. Luna: Wait, really? A strike in ancient Egypt? Lucas: Yes, under Ramses III, but it shows the system had its limits. The workers knew their rights. They were skilled craftsmen, and they could make demands. But for Ramses II, the system held. He had a long reign — 66 years — and the economy remained robust through most of it, thanks in part to the strong administration he inherited from his father Seti I and the efficient viziers he appointed. Luna: So it wasn't just about Ramses being a great builder; it was about the people behind the scenes making it happen. Lucas: Exactly. The vizier Paser, the high priests, the treasury officials, the expedition leaders — they were the ones who turned Ramses's vision into reality. And they did it through a combination of meticulous record-keeping, strategic resource extraction, and a deeply ingrained system of taxation and redistribution. Lucas: But there was also a spiritual dimension. The temples were not just religious centers; they were economic powerhouses. They owned vast tracts of land, employed thousands of people, and operated their own workshops and fleets. Ramses endowed temples like the Ramesseum with enormous wealth, and in return, the priests supported his rule and prayed for his eternal life. Luna: It's like the whole economy was built around the pharaoh's divine status. Lucas: Exactly. Maat — the concept of cosmic order — required that the pharaoh maintain balance. That meant provisioning the gods, the dead, and the living. The economy was a reflection of that duty. Ramses's building projects weren't just vanity; they were a statement that he was fulfilling his role as the intermediary between the gods and the people. Lucas: And when you look at the scale of it all — the grain, the gold, the timber, the labor — you realize that Ramses the Great wasn't just a warrior or a builder. He was also a master manager. He understood that to leave a legacy of stone, you first need a legacy of bread. Luna: That's a great way to put it. Bread before stone. Lucas: So next time you see an image of Abu Simbel, think not just of Ramses, but of the vizier Paser, the miners in Sinai, the traders sailing to Punt, and the bakers in Per-Ramesses. They all made it possible.