Latest / Ramses the Great: Egypt's Most Powerful Pharaoh — Fexingo History / Ramses II's Medical Revolution: Healing the Pharaoh
Transcript
- Lucas: We’ve spent the last twenty episodes tracing the architecture of Ramses II’s legend—the temples, the treaties, the sprawling city of Pi Ramesses—but there’s a quieter, more intimate side to his reign that we haven’t touched yet. Luna: The man behind the monument? Lucas: Exactly. For sixty-six years, Usermaatre Setepenre ruled Kemet, projecting an image of eternal vigor, but if you look at his mummy, you see a body that was actually quite broken by the end. Luna: Broken down from all that building? Lucas: It wasn’t just labor; it was biology. When Jean Vercoutter examined his remains in the late twentieth century, he found severe arthritis in the spine and hips, but the most striking damage was in the mouth. Luna: His teeth were in terrible shape. Lucas: Severe. He had multiple abscesses, gum disease so advanced that his jawbone was literally dissolving around the roots of his molars. It’s hard to imagine ruling an empire when you can barely chew your bread. Luna: Did he ever complain about it publicly? Lucas: Never. The royal propaganda machine ensured that every statue showed him smiling, youthful, and whole. But the medical records tell a different story of pain management and desperate intervention. Luna: So who actually treated him? Lucas: He had access to the finest minds in the world, known as swnw, or physicians. These weren’t just priests chanting spells; they were empirical observers who understood anatomy, pharmacology, and even basic surgery. Luna: They did actual surgery on a king? Lucas: They certainly tried. The Ebers Papyrus, one of our oldest medical texts, details procedures for draining abscesses and setting bones. For Ramses, this likely meant cauterizing those infected gums with hot irons or sharp tools. Luna: That sounds incredibly painful. Lucas: Without anesthesia in our modern sense, it must have been excruciating. They used honey and resin for its antibacterial properties, and maybe opium poppy extracts to dull the nerve endings, but it was still brutal. Luna: Did the treatments work long-term? Lucas: Not really. His dental condition worsened over time, contributing to his general decline. By his seventieth year, he was largely bedridden, relying on his sons like Merneptah to handle military campaigns while he stayed in Pi Ramesses. Luna: So the power shifted to his children? Lucas: Powerfully. As his body failed, the court structure adapted to keep the state running. The viziers and high priests of Amun-Re worked harder to maintain Ma’at, the cosmic order, because the pharaoh could no longer do it alone physically. Luna: It shows how fragile that divine image was. Lucas: It reveals the tension between the god-king ideal and the very human reality of aging. Ramses wanted to be perceived as immortal, but his physicians knew better than to promise eternity. Luna: What kind of medicines were they using back then? Lucas: A fascinating mix of chemistry and ritual. They prescribed crocodile dung for wounds, moldy bread for infections—an accidental antibiotic—and complex poultices made from herbs like cumin and fenugreek. Luna: Moldy bread? That’s basically penicillin. Lucas: In effect, yes. The Egyptians noticed that certain fungal growths helped heal sores, even if they didn’t understand the microbiology. It was trial and error refined over centuries of practice. Luna: I never thought of them as early scientists. Lucas: They were definitely pragmatic. If a spell didn’t work, they’d switch to a physical remedy. The House of Life, where these medical texts were copied, treated knowledge as a tool for survival, not just worship. Luna: Did Ramses believe in their science or just their magic? Lucas: Probably both. In Kemet, the boundary between healing and divine intervention was blurry. A successful treatment was credited to the physician’s skill and the favor of Thoth, the god of wisdom and medicine. Luna: So gratitude went both ways? Lucas: Absolutely. Inscriptions often show kings dedicating statues to Thoth after surviving illness. It was a way of acknowledging that while humans tried, the gods ultimately held the power over life and death. Luna: It puts his longevity into perspective. Lucas: Sixty-six years is an outlier, even for royalty. Most people didn’t make it past fifty. His survival suggests his medical team was exceptionally good at managing chronic pain and infection. Luna: Or he just had really strong genetics. Lucas: Likely a combination. The Ptolemaic period later exaggerated his myth, but the physical evidence from KV7 shows us a tired old man who fought hard to stay relevant until the end. Luna: And finally laid to rest among his ancestors. Lucas: Precisely. His body may have been failing, but his administrative legacy kept the empire stable for generations after he took his last breath. Luna: It’s amazing what they managed without modern science. Lucas: They managed with patience, observation, and a deep respect for the natural world. Their methods were crude by today’s standards, but they kept a civilization running for millennia. Luna: Before we go deeper into his final days, I want to mention something about how this show works. Lucas: Right, thanks Luna. Quick honest thing — a handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo — that's F. E. X. I. N. G. O., and that's literally what funds making this many of these. Luna: Yeah, it keeps the research going without any ads cluttering the experience. Lucas: Exactly, and we appreciate everyone who helps us keep digging into these stories. Now, let’s get back to the endgame of Ramses’ reign and how his illness shaped the succession crisis. Luna: How did his failing health affect Merneptah? Lucas: Merneptah had to step up as regent much earlier than expected, handling foreign policy while Ramses remained in the palace. This created a power dynamic where the crown prince was effectively co-ruling decades before officially taking the throne. Luna: Did that cause friction with other brothers? Lucas: It certainly did. Other sons saw their chance slipping away, leading to quiet political maneuvering within the harem and the court. The fear of death accelerated these internal struggles. Luna: So the threat of mortality made them ruthless. Lucas: Yes. Every day Ramses survived was a day Merneptah’s hold on power was contested. The medical uncertainty added a layer of anxiety that poisoned family relations. Luna: It seems like a very human struggle. Lucas: It mirrors so many historical successions. The longer a ruler lives, the more dangerous the transition becomes. Ramses died at ninety-eight, leaving a kingdom ripe for instability. Luna: Which is exactly where the next episode takes us. Lucas: Join us next time as we explore the Harem Conspiracy and the violent struggle that followed his death. Thanks for listening.