Latest / Ramses the Great: Egypt's Most Powerful Pharaoh — Fexingo History / Ramses the Great's Firstborn: The Tragedy of Prince Amunherkhepeshef
Transcript
- Lucas: So, Luna, we've talked a lot about Ramses the Great — his monuments, his wives, his battles, even his sons like Khaemwaset. But there's one son we haven't really touched on: his firstborn, Amunherkhepeshef. He was the crown prince for something like twenty-five years, and yet most people have never heard of him. Luna: Wait, if he was the heir for that long, what happened to him? Lucas: He died before Ramses. That's the short answer. But the story is much more interesting. Amunherkhepeshef — his name means 'Amun is with his strong arm' — was likely Ramses's favorite son, at least early on. He appears in reliefs at Abu Simbel, at the Ramesseum, and in scenes of the Battle of Kadesh, even though he was only about ten years old at the time. Luna: A ten-year-old at Kadesh? That's intense. Lucas: Well, he wasn't fighting. But Egyptian propaganda often showed royal children accompanying the king on campaign, even when they were too young to actually participate. It was a way of showing the dynasty's continuity and strength. At Abu Simbel, there's a famous scene where Amunherkhepeshef is shown leading prisoners of war — he's depicted as a miniature adult, just smaller than his father. Luna: So he was being groomed for leadership from a very young age. Lucas: Absolutely. He held the title 'Eldest Son of the King' and 'Generalissimo' — effectively commander of the army, though that was probably honorary. He also had administrative roles. We know he had a household at Per-Ramesses, the new capital. He even had his own chariot team. But here's the mystery: we don't know exactly when or how he died. It was sometime after year 25 or 26 of Ramses's reign — we know that because he appears in texts up to that point, and then he vanishes. Luna: That's a huge gap. Do we have any theories? Lucas: A few. Some scholars think he died in battle, maybe against the Hittites or Libyans, but there's no record of a major campaign where he fell. Others suggest disease — plague was common in the ancient world. The most plausible theory is that he simply died of natural causes. But what makes it really poignant is that his tomb wasn't finished. He was supposed to have a grand tomb in the Valley of the Kings — KV5 — but it was never used. Instead, he was buried in a reused burial somewhere else, possibly in a secondary chamber of another tomb. Luna: Wait, KV5 — isn't that the huge tomb that was excavated in the 1990s? The one with dozens of chambers? Lucas: Exactly. KV5 is the largest tomb in the Valley of the Kings, originally built for the sons of Ramses II. It has over a hundred and fifty chambers and corridors. But it was never finished. When it was rediscovered in 1995, archaeologists found evidence that it had been used for multiple burials — but not for Amunherkhepeshef. His mummy has never been identified. Luna: So the crown prince of Egypt just vanishes from the record? Lucas: Not entirely. We have his titles, his images, and a few inscriptions. But his death left a succession crisis in miniature. After he died, the next in line was his brother Ramses, also named after the king, but he died too. Then another brother, Khaemwaset — the one we did an episode on — held the position of crown prince for a while, but he also predeceased Ramses. Finally, the throne passed to Merenptah, the thirteenth son, who was already in his sixties when he became pharaoh. Luna: It sounds like Ramses outlived almost all his children. Lucas: He did. Ramses lived into his nineties, so most of his kids died before him. But Amunherkhepeshef is special because he was the firstborn, the designated heir for so long. We have a letter from a Hittite queen — possibly Puduhepa — that mentions Ramses's sons, and there's a sense that international diplomacy depended on knowing who the next pharaoh would be. When Amunherkhepeshef died, it must have sent ripples through the court. Luna: And through the Hittite alliance too, probably. Lucas: Exactly. The peace treaty with the Hittites was sealed by a marriage — Ramses married a Hittite princess — and the succession was a big part of that. If the crown prince died, the whole arrangement might be in question. But Ramses managed it. He just kept naming new heirs until Merenptah finally took the throne. Luna: And Merenptah is the one who had to deal with the Sea Peoples, right? Lucas: Yes, but that's another episode. For now, let's focus on Amunherkhepeshef. One of the most touching artifacts is a statue of him as a child, found at the Ramesseum. It shows him with his hand on his father's knee, a gesture of intimacy and loyalty. It reminds us that behind all the colossal statues and battle scenes, these were real people with families. Luna: It's strange to think of Ramses as a grieving father. Lucas: It is. But he was. We have records of him dedicating monuments to his sons, including Amunherkhepeshef. At Abydos, there's a stela where Ramses mentions his 'beloved son' and asks the gods to protect him in the afterlife. Even a pharaoh couldn't escape the pain of losing a child. Luna: So what's the takeaway? That Ramses's legacy is also a story of loss? Lucas: I think so. We tend to see Ramses as this invincible figure, but his personal life was full of tragedy. He had over a hundred children, but most of them died before him. Amunherkhepeshef is just the most prominent example. In a way, the story of ancient Egypt is as much about the people who didn't become pharaoh as those who did.