Latest / Ramses the Great: Egypt's Most Powerful Pharaoh — Fexingo History / Ramses the Great's Royal Hunts: Lion Slayer of Kemet
Transcript
- Lucas: For anyone coming with us through these conversations, especially about North Africa and the ancient world, we've spent a lot of time on Ramses the Great's major achievements—Kadesh, the temples, the diplomacy. But today I want to zoom in on something that really shows us a different side of him: the royal hunt. Luna: The hunt? Like, he actually went out and hunted animals himself? Lucas: Yes, and not just for sport. In ancient Kemet, the hunt was a deeply symbolic act. When the pharaoh killed a lion, he was demonstrating his power over chaos—essentially performing ma'at, the cosmic order. And we have some incredible records of Ramses doing exactly that, both in texts and on temple walls. Luna: That makes sense—he's already the warrior king, so hunting is like peacetime warfare. Lucas: Exactly. And before we go deeper, a quick honest thing—this show is possible because a small group of listeners helps fund it through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That support lets us dig into these specific aspects that the big docu-series skip. So thank you to anyone who's chipped in. Luna: Yeah, it really does make a difference. So, where do we see Ramses hunting? Lucas: One of the most famous scenes is at Abu Simbel, in the great temple—there's a relief showing Ramses on a chariot, arrows flying, chasing down a lion. The lion is rearing up, and the pharaoh is calm, composed. It's a classic piece of royal iconography. And at Karnak, there's an inscription that lists the number of lions he killed: I think it says something like 'one hundred and two fierce lions' over his reign. Possibly exaggerated, but still. Luna: A hundred and two? That's a lot of lions. How did they even hunt them? Lucas: Typically they'd go out in chariots with archers. They'd surround the lion, drive it into an open area, and the pharaoh would take the kill shot with a composite bow. Sometimes they used nets or even dogs to corner the animal. The lion, in Egyptian, is called 'mau', and it was seen as a creature of the desert—the chaotic periphery. So by killing it, the pharaoh was literally taming chaos. Luna: Did he hunt anything besides lions? Lucas: Oh yes. Ostriches, wild bulls, even smaller game. Ostriches were sought for their plumes—they were used in fans and ceremonial headdresses. And wild cattle, like the aurochs, were a different kind of challenge. At the Ramesseum, there's a scene of Ramses lassoing a wild bull. It's a very dynamic image, quite different from the formal lion hunt. There was also hunting in the marshes—hippopotamus, crocodiles—but those were more dangerous and often done with harpoons. Luna: What about the actual tools? Were they different from what soldiers used? Lucas: The composite bow was the key weapon, often made from wood, horn, and sinew, giving it more power. Arrows had various tips—leaf-shaped for flesh, barbed for larger animals. For close-quarters, they might use a spear or an axe. But the chariot was crucial—it gave speed and elevation. Ramses' chariot was probably light, two-wheeled, with a driver and the pharaoh as the shooter. You can see in the reliefs that he's driving himself sometimes, which is extra showy. Luna: And these were state-sponsored events, right? Like, the whole court would come? Lucas: Absolutely. A royal hunt was a major expedition. They'd set out from the capital, Per-Ramesses, with hundreds of soldiers, servants, cooks, scribes—the works. They'd head to the desert margins, the wadis, or the Faiyum region where lions were more common. The hunt itself was recorded by scribes, and the kill count was reported to the gods. Sometimes they even built temporary shrines to offer the first kill to a god like Sekhmet, the lioness goddess of war. Luna: Sekhmet—right, she's a lioness. So hunting lions is also honoring her. Lucas: Exactly. There's a connection between the king and the goddess. Sekhmet could bring plague and destruction, but also healing. By offering her a lion, the pharaoh was acknowledging her power and asking for her favor. And at the same time, he was identifying himself with Horus, the falcon god, who defeats the forces of chaos. So a simple hunt becomes a cosmic statement. Luna: Were there any notable hunts that we know of, like with specific details? Lucas: There's a famous inscription from the fifth year of Ramses' reign—around 1274 BCE, the same year as Kadesh—that describes a lion hunt on the edge of the Delta. The text says the king 'shot a lion with his bow in the presence of the court, and it fell to the ground like a captive.' Another text from the later years mentions a hunt for 'wild cattle of the desert,' where Ramses killed four bulls single-handedly. And there's a tomb at Thebes—the so-called 'Hunting Tomb' of a noble named Menna—that shows scenes of hunts that might reflect royal expeditions. Luna: So it wasn't just Ramses—nobles hunted too. Lucas: Yes, but the scale and symbolism were different. A noble hunting a gazelle was a nice pastime. The pharaoh hunting a lion was a state event, recorded and celebrated. And for Ramses, who lived to be over 90, these hunts spanned decades. He was still depicted hunting in his later years, though one wonders how much he actually participated physically. In his 60s and 70s, it might have been more ceremonial. Luna: Like the elderly king shooting a lion from a platform, maybe. Lucas: Exactly. The imagery stays consistent, but the reality might have been that a professional hunter did the kill and the king got the credit. Still, the message was the same: Ramses is the protector of Kemet, the slayer of chaos, whether in war or in the wild. Luna: It's interesting that we don't usually think of pharaohs as hunters. We picture them in temples or battles. Lucas: True, but hunting was an essential part of royal identity, going back to the Old Kingdom. The Narmer Palette, one of the earliest historical documents, shows a king smiting an enemy, but also a king as a bull—a hunt metaphor. And Ramses was just continuing and amplifying that tradition. He even had himself shown as a sphinx trampling enemies, which blends human and lion. Luna: So the lion hunt is really about power—controlling the land, controlling the wild. Lucas: Exactly. And by the end of his reign, there were probably far fewer lions in Egypt because of these intensive hunts. That might have contributed to the lion's decline in the region. Of course, later in the Ptolemaic period, Alexander the Great and the Ptolemies also hunted lions, but Ramses set the standard. Luna: Were there any environmental impacts? Like, did they overhunt? Lucas: It's hard to say for sure, but given that Ramses claimed over a hundred lions, and his successors continued the practice, the lion population likely took a hit. Combined with climate shifts and agricultural expansion, lions became extirpated from Egypt by the later periods. Today, there are no wild lions in Egypt. So in a way, the pharaoh's triumph over chaos ultimately removed the lion from the landscape. Luna: That's a sobering thought—even the most glorious hunts had consequences. Lucas: Indeed. But for Ramses, it was all about projecting an image of invincibility. And the hunts are a fantastic window into that—how he blended sport, religion, and public relations into one activity. Next time we see a relief of Ramses shooting a lion, we'll remember it's not just a pretty picture; it's a carefully crafted statement of power. Luna: Definitely. Thanks for taking us into the desert—literally and figuratively. Lucas: My pleasure. Until next time, keep stepping into history.