Latest / Ramses the Great: Egypt's Most Powerful Pharaoh — Fexingo History / Ramses the Great's Crown Prince: The Lost Heir Who Never Became Pharaoh
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Ramses the Great's achievements — the monuments, the battles, the diplomacy. But there's a figure who lurks in the background of his story, someone who was supposed to inherit everything but vanished before he could. I'm talking about Crown Prince Ramses — the king's firstborn son. Luna: Wait — I thought Merenptah was his successor? What happened to the firstborn? Lucas: Great question. Merenptah was actually the thirteenth son. Ramses the Great had so many children — at least forty sons and forty-five daughters — that the line of succession got complicated. But his firstborn, also named Ramses — sometimes called Prince Ramses B by Egyptologists to distinguish him — was the designated heir for decades. He held the title 'King's Son' and appeared in inscriptions from early in his father's reign. Luna: So he was being groomed to be pharaoh. What do we know about him? Lucas: Not as much as we'd like, but we have some solid clues. He appears in scenes from the Battle of Kadesh — those massive reliefs on temple walls. In one, he's shown riding a chariot behind his father, already a young man participating in the campaign. That was around Year 5 of Ramses' reign, so Prince Ramses was probably in his teens or early twenties then. Later, he's given increasingly important titles: 'General of the Army', 'Overseer of the Two Lands', even 'High Priest of Ptah' in Memphis — a hugely prestigious religious office. Luna: So he was both a military commander and a high priest. That's a serious combination. Lucas: Exactly. It shows that Ramses was preparing his son for every aspect of kingship. We also have evidence that Prince Ramses was involved in building projects. At the Ramesseum — Ramses' mortuary temple — there's a statue of the prince kneeling, holding a shrine. And at Luxor Temple, he's depicted offering to the gods alongside his father. But then, around Year 40 of Ramses' reign, he simply disappears from the record. Luna: Disappears? What happened to him? Did he die in battle? Lucas: We don't know for certain. There's no surviving account of his death. Some scholars speculate he may have died in battle — perhaps in one of the later campaigns against the Libyans or the Sea Peoples. But others think he might have succumbed to disease or even fallen victim to a palace conspiracy. The silence is suspicious. In a culture that celebrated royal achievements so lavishly, the absence of any monument commemorating his death suggests it may have been sudden or even embarrassing. Luna: That's eerie. So his death might have been covered up? Lucas: It's possible. There's no tomb that can be definitively attributed to him, which is remarkable for a crown prince who lived into middle age. He likely died sometime between Year 40 and Year 50 of Ramses' reign, which would have put him in his fifties. After his death, the succession shifted to the next eldest surviving son — but that wasn't straightforward either. Ramses outlived at least twelve of his sons. Merenptah, who finally became pharaoh, was already an old man — probably in his sixties — when he took the throne. Luna: So the kingdom was essentially waiting for decades to find out who would rule next. Lucas: Exactly. And that uncertainty must have created tension at court. We know that another son, Khaemwaset — who we've talked about before — was the high priest of Ptah in Memphis and a very influential figure. He was actually the fourth son, and for a while he seemed to be the de facto heir. But he died around Year 55, also before his father. So by the end, it was Merenptah — the thirteenth son — who inherited a throne that had been held by the same man for sixty-six years. Luna: It must have been surreal to finally become pharaoh after all those brothers died. Lucas: Absolutely. And Merenptah had to assert his authority quickly. He was about sixty years old, facing external threats from the Libyans and the Sea Peoples, and he had to establish his own legitimacy. He did that by continuing his father's building projects and leading military campaigns. But the shadow of Crown Prince Ramses — the lost heir — must have hung over the transition. What if he had lived? Would the dynasty have taken a different path? Luna: It's strange to think about how much hinges on one person's lifespan. Lucas: Speaking of hinges — and I'll tie this back in a second — it's a reminder that creating a show like this, where we can really dig into these details, takes resources beyond just our time. We're able to keep Fexingo History ad-free and listener-supported because a small group of people chips in through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's not a big ask — just that if you find value in these deep dives, that's the thing that keeps us going. Luna: Yeah, it really does make a difference. And it means we can keep covering these obscure corners without worrying about sponsors. Lucas: Right. And speaking of obscure corners — let's get back to Crown Prince Ramses. There's one more clue that might hint at his fate. At Abydos, in the temple of Seti I, there's a scene showing Ramses the Great and his sons making offerings. Prince Ramses is prominent there. But later, in Merenptah's reign, some of those reliefs were recarved — Merenptah's name replaced his brother's in a few places. That's a classic damnatio memoriae, a deliberate erasure. Luna: So Merenptah was actively rewriting history? That suggests something more than just a natural death. Lucas: It does. Damnatio memoriae was usually reserved for enemies or rivals, not beloved brothers. But we have to be careful — maybe Merenptah was just asserting his own place in the temple, not necessarily erasing a rival. Still, the fact that Prince Ramses' name was chiseled out in some places while others were left intact is odd. It could mean there was a faction that supported his line, and Merenptah wanted to consolidate power. Luna: So there might have been a succession struggle after all. Lucas: Possibly. We don't have direct evidence of a coup or a civil war, but the silence is telling. In the end, Crown Prince Ramses remains a ghost — a figure who was supposed to be one of Egypt's great pharaohs but was never given the chance. It makes you wonder what Egypt would have looked like under his rule. He was seasoned, educated, and experienced. Instead, we got Merenptah, who was competent but old, and the dynasty began its slow decline. Luna: It's almost a tragedy. A whole life prepared for a throne he never sat on. Lucas: Exactly. And it's a reminder that even the most powerful pharaoh couldn't control everything. Ramses the Great built an empire, raised a huge family, and lived into his nineties — but he couldn't guarantee his chosen heir would outlive him.