Latest / Ramses the Great: Egypt's Most Powerful Pharaoh — Fexingo History / Ramses the Great's Navy: Warships of the Nile and the Sea
Transcript
- Lucas: So, we've talked a lot about Ramses's chariots, his infantry, his supply lines — but there's one arm of his military we've barely touched on, and it was absolutely vital to everything he did. Luna: The navy? Lucas: Exactly. People tend to think of Egypt as a land power, but the Nile was the superhighway of Kemet, and the Mediterranean was the gateway to the wider world. Ramses didn't just build monuments — he built a serious fleet. Lucas: His capital, Per-Ramesses, was strategically located in the Delta, right at the junction of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile and the Way of Horus leading into Canaan. That wasn't an accident — it gave him direct water access to both the interior and the coast. Luna: So the city itself was a naval base? Lucas: In many ways, yes. Per-Ramesses had massive docks, warehouses, and workshops for building and repairing ships. Papyrus Anastasi IV even describes the bustling harbor with ships coming and going, loaded with goods from all over the Mediterranean. Lucas: And those ships weren't just for trade. Ramses needed a navy that could move troops quickly, supply his army in Syria, and protect Egypt's coastline from raids. The Sherden — one of the so-called Sea Peoples — were already causing trouble in the eastern Mediterranean during his reign. Luna: I've heard of the Sherden. Weren't they the ones with the horned helmets? Lucas: That's them. They were pirates, essentially — raiding coastal towns and merchant vessels. And Ramses dealt with them decisively. There's a relief at Karnak that shows a naval battle where Egyptian ships engage Sherden warriors. Ramses personally led the attack, and many of the captured Sherden were later integrated into his own army as mercenaries. Luna: Wait, he hired the pirates? Lucas: He did. It was a smart move — turn your enemies into allies. Those Sherden ended up serving as elite guards and marines on Egyptian ships. They're even depicted on the Kadesh reliefs fighting alongside Ramses's troops. Lucas: But let's talk about the ships themselves. Egyptian warships of the New Kingdom were typically about 20 to 30 meters long, powered by both sail and oars. They had a single square sail made of linen, and the oarsmen sat in rows along the sides. Lucas: The hull was built from cedar imported from Byblos, in modern-day Lebanon. That was a huge logistical effort — Ramses maintained strong diplomatic ties with Byblos precisely to secure that timber. Without it, his fleet would have been far less seaworthy. Luna: So the navy depended on foreign trade? Lucas: Absolutely. Egypt had plenty of acacia and sycamore, but for long-lasting, flexible planks that could handle the open sea, cedar was essential. The expeditions to Byblos were state-sponsored and well-protected. Lucas: Now, the ships used for war were different from the simple papyrus rafts used on the Nile. They had a reinforced prow for ramming, and the crew included archers who would shoot at enemy vessels before boarding. The marines — often Sherden by this point — would then leap across to fight hand-to-hand. Luna: It sounds like a miniature version of a later Greek trireme. Lucas: In some ways, yes, though the Egyptian ships were broader and didn't have the multiple rows of oars that the trireme had. They were designed more for transport and boarding than for ramming tactics. Lucas: But the navy wasn't just about combat. For the Kadesh campaign, Ramses used ships to supply his army along the coast. The Via Maris — the coastal route — was supported by a string of fortified ports where ships could drop off grain, water, and equipment. Lucas: One key base was Tjaru, at the eastern edge of the Delta. It was a fortress and naval depot where troops and supplies were marshaled before heading into Sinai and Canaan. The Papyrus Anastasi V describes the bustle there: 'the harbor is filled with ships, the warehouses are full of goods.' Luna: It's easy to forget how much planning went into these campaigns. Lucas: That's what I find fascinating — the sheer scale of logistics. Ramses wasn't just a warrior-pharaoh; he was an organizer. And his navy was a crucial tool in projecting power far beyond the Nile Valley. Lucas: Speaking of which, you know, running a show like this — digging into these details — takes time and resources. And if you've been coming along with us through these conversations about Kemet and the ancient world, a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of them. Luna: Yeah, it really makes a difference. Keeps us ad-free and able to spend the hours on research. Lucas: So, back to the navy. One more thing I want to touch on is the role of the Nile itself. Even without going to sea, controlling the river was essential. Ramses had a fleet of riverboats that moved grain, stone, and troops between Upper and Lower Egypt. The transport of obelisks from Aswan to Thebes, for instance, was a massive naval operation. Luna: We talked about that in the obelisks episode — the barges and the canals. Lucas: Right. So the navy wasn't just a separate branch — it was woven into the fabric of the state. After Ramses, his successors maintained the fleet, and it played a role in later conflicts with the Libyans and the Sea Peoples. But Ramses set the standard. Lucas: And there's one more interesting detail. We have records of a naval expedition sent by Ramses to the land of Punt — probably somewhere in the Horn of Africa — to bring back incense, myrrh, and exotic goods. That was a tradition going back to Hatshepsut, but Ramses continued it, showing his reach extended far south as well. Luna: So his navy connected Egypt to Africa and Asia. Lucas: Exactly. It was the umbilical cord of the empire. Without those ships, the monuments wouldn't have been built, the army couldn't have been supplied, and Egypt's influence would have been confined to the Nile Valley. Ramses understood that power had to float. Luna: It's a whole side of him I hadn't thought about. Lucas: And that's why we keep digging. Next time, maybe we'll look at the daily life of an Egyptian sailor — what it was like to spend months at sea under that blazing sun. Luna: I'd love that.