Ramses the Great's Builders: The Workers Behind the Monuments

Ramses the Great: Egypt's Most Powerful Pharaoh — Fexingo History · Jun 11, 2026 · 7m · transcript

We often marvel at Ramses II's colossal statues and temples, but who actually cut the stone, hauled the blocks, and carved the hieroglyphs? This episode turns the spotlight away from the pharaoh and onto the army of craftsmen, laborers, and slaves who built his monuments. We examine the organization of work crews at the Ramesseum and Abu Simbel, the specialized roles of quarrymen and sculptors at Aswan and Gebel el-Silsila, the supply chain that fed and housed thousands, and the evidence we have of their daily lives—from graffiti left by work gangs to the workers' village at Deir…