Latest / Ramses the Great: Egypt's Most Powerful Pharaoh — Fexingo History / Ramses the Greats Divine Kingship Rituals at Abu Simbel
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Ramses's building projects — Pi-Ramesses, the Ramesseum, the additions at Karnak and Luxor. But I think the most audacious statement he made in stone is at Abu Simbel, deep in Nubia. And it's not just about size — it's about what he made the sun itself do. Luna: Wait — he made the sun do something? Lucas: Yeah, twice a year, on February 22 and October 22, the rising sun penetrates the entire length of the Great Temple's interior — over 60 meters from the entrance — and illuminates the statues in the innermost sanctuary. And those dates are almost certainly tied to Ramses's coronation and his birth. Lucas: The sanctuary holds four seated figures: Ptah, Amun-Re, Ramses himself, and Re-Horakhty. Ptah, the creator god, is always left in shadow — he's associated with the underworld, so the sun avoids him. But the other three are bathed in light. It's an incredible piece of engineering and theology. Luna: So Ramses literally aligned himself with the sun gods. Lucas: Exactly. He's not just a king ruling by divine favor — he's inserted into the divine triad itself. Re-Horakhty, Amun-Re, and Ramses — the sun god, the king of the gods, and the living god. It's a claim that he shares in their eternal cycle of rebirth. Luna: And the dates — February and October — those are specific to him, not a general solar event like the solstice. Lucas: Right. Most scholars agree February 22 marks his coronation day, and October 22 his birth. So the temple is calibrated to his personal timeline, not just a cosmic one. It's as if the universe is acknowledging his authority. Lucas: And then there's the Small Temple, about 100 meters north, dedicated to Nefertari and the goddess Hathor. That one's also aligned — the sun illuminates a statue of Hathor connected to Nefertari. So his chief wife gets her own piece of eternity. Luna: It's like a partnership in divine propaganda. Lucas: Absolutely. And this is all happening in Nubia, far from the traditional centers of power. Ramses is making a statement to the conquered territories: I am not just your ruler, I am a god, and the sun itself confirms it. Lucas: Of course, the temples were buried under sand for centuries until Giovanni Belzoni excavated them in 1817. And in the 1960s, the whole site was moved to avoid flooding from the Aswan High Dam. But even with relocation, the alignment was preserved — the engineers calculated the new position to maintain the solar phenomenon. Luna: That's amazing — they kept the magic working. Lucas: They did. And it still draws crowds twice a year. But here's the thing — Ramses wasn't the first to build a solar-aligned temple, but he took it to a level of personal deification that was unprecedented. Earlier pharaohs like Amenhotep III had divine pretensions, but Ramses made it the centerpiece of his rule. Luna: And it worked — he's still remembered as the greatest pharaoh. Lucas: Partly because he controlled the narrative so completely. The temples, the inscriptions, the festivals — they all reinforce the same message. He even called himself 'Userrenput-aanehktu' — 'Strong in years, great in victories' — as part of his titulary. It's a constant refrain. Lucas: You know, speaking of keeping things going — this show itself is a bit like that. It takes work to keep the narratives alive and funded. A couple of dollars a month from listeners who enjoy these deep dives genuinely makes a difference. If you've gotten something out of our conversations about Ramses or any of our other episodes, buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo helps keep the podcast ad-free. Luna: Yeah, it's a small way to support the research and the time we put into each episode. Lucas: Alright, back to Abu Simbel. The Small Temple's facade has six statues — four of Ramses and two of Nefertari, all about 10 meters tall. And Nefertari is shown the same size as the king, which is incredibly rare in Egyptian art. Usually the queen is much smaller. Luna: So she's elevated almost to his level. Lucas: Yes, and the inscription on the temple says it's dedicated to 'the great royal wife Nefertari, for whom the sun shines.' So she's also associated with the sun god. It's a powerful statement about their partnership. Lucas: Inside the Great Temple, there are reliefs showing Ramses defeating his enemies — Libyans, Nubians, Hittites. The most famous is the Battle of Kadesh, which we've covered before. But the temple itself is the ultimate victory monument: Ramses as the unifier of Upper and Lower Egypt, the conqueror, and the god. Luna: It's like a résumé carved in stone. Lucas: Exactly. And the inner sanctuary is the climax. The statues are about 2 meters tall, cut from the rock. When the sun hits them, it's a moment of rebirth — the king's ka is renewed. The alignment is so precise that the sunlight misses Ptah, the god of darkness, and falls only on the solar deities and Ramses. Lucas: Modern research has shown that the original alignment may have been even more precise, with the sun hitting the back wall exactly on the two dates. The relocation in the 1960s introduced a slight error of about a day, but it's still remarkably accurate. Luna: So the ancient engineers knew what they were doing. Lucas: Without a doubt. They had to account for the latitude, the orientation of the temple, and the specific angles of the mountain. It's a testament to their astronomical knowledge. Lucas: And think about the political context. Ramses built Abu Simbel early in his reign, around Year 24, after his victory at Kadesh. He was asserting his dominance over Nubia and projecting his power southward. The temples served as a kind of border marker — a statement that Egypt's authority reached all the way to the fourth cataract. Luna: It's like planting a flag on the moon. Lucas: Exactly. And the Nubian population would have seen these massive statues and the annual miracle of the sun. It reinforced the idea that Ramses was not just a distant king but a living god whose power was confirmed by the heavens. Lucas: There's also a fascinating detail: the temple complex includes a chapel dedicated to Thoth, the god of writing and knowledge. So it's not just about power and religion — it's also about wisdom and record-keeping. Ramses presents himself as the embodiment of Ma'at — cosmic order. Luna: So everything he does is framed as maintaining balance. Lucas: Right. And the alignment itself is a symbol of that order — the sun follows its path, the king is reborn, the world continues. It's a powerful image that would have resonated with everyone who saw it. Luna: I'm curious — did later pharaohs try to copy this? Lucas: Some did, but none as successfully. Ramses's successors built their own temples, but the solar alignment at Abu Simbel remains unique in its precision and its personal connection to the king. It's a high point of Egyptian monumental architecture. Lucas: And it's a reminder that Ramses was not just a builder but a master of symbolism. Every element of Abu Simbel is designed to tell a story: the king's greatness, his divine status, his eternal legacy. And it worked — we're still talking about him 3,200 years later.