Latest / Ramses the Great: Egypt's Most Powerful Pharaoh — Fexingo History / Ramses' Great Harris Papyrus: The King's Final Confession
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've spent a lot of time with Ramses the Second, the so-called Great, but today I want to jump forward about seventy years to another Ramses — Ramses the Third — and a single document that tells us more about how Egypt actually worked than almost anything else that survives. Luna: A single document? That sounds promising. Lucas: It's the Great Harris Papyrus, the longest papyrus ever found from ancient Egypt — over a hundred and thirty feet long. It's essentially a giant royal decree, dictated by Ramses III at the very end of his reign, and it's basically his last will and testament to the gods, and to history. Luna: A hundred and thirty feet — that's like a whole hallway of text. Lucas: It really is. And before we dive in, I want to mention something quick because it directly affects how we can keep making these deep dives for you. A small group of listeners already chips in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's what keeps this show ad-free and lets us spend hours on primary sources like this. Luna: Yeah, it's a quiet little engine that keeps us going, and we're grateful for it. Lucas: Right. So back to the papyrus. It was found in 1855 in a tomb near Medinet Habu, which was Ramses III's own mortuary temple on the west bank of Thebes. A local dealer dug it up, and it ended up in the British Museum, where it still sits today. Luna: And what does it actually say? I mean, besides being long. Lucas: It's a massive list of everything Ramses III gave to the temples of Egypt — land, gold, grain, cattle, gardens, people. For example, he donated over a million sacks of grain to the temple of Amun-Re at Karnak alone, plus hundreds of gardens and orchards. The totals are staggering: something like 2,300 square kilometers of farmland across the whole country, all given to the gods. Luna: Wait — over a million sacks of grain to one temple? That's an insane amount of wealth. Lucas: It is, and that's the point. The papyrus is basically an audit of how Ramses III spent his thirty-one years on the throne, and it shows how the temples had become the economic engine of Egypt. By the end of his reign, the priesthood of Amun-Re controlled maybe a third of all the agricultural land in the country. Luna: So the pharaoh was essentially bankrolling the priests. Lucas: Exactly. And that's a huge shift from earlier pharaohs. When Ramses II built his big monuments, he was also funneling wealth to the temples, but Ramses III goes even further. The Harris Papyrus reads like a royal apology, almost — a king justifying his reign by showing how generously he's endowed the gods. Luna: An apology? That's a strong word. What was he apologizing for? Lucas: Well, his reign wasn't all smooth sailing. He had to fight off invasions by the Sea Peoples — those mysterious raiders who swept across the eastern Mediterranean around 1177 BCE. He won a big naval battle against them, but it drained the treasury. Then there were internal problems: tomb robbery became rampant, and the workers at Deir el-Medina, the royal tomb builders, went on strike because they weren't getting paid on time. Luna: So he's trying to show the gods, and maybe the people, that despite all that, he was a good king. Lucas: Right. The papyrus is framed as a speech to the gods, but it's really addressed to the priests and the elite. He's saying, 'Look at everything I've given you. I've done my part.' It's a piece of political propaganda, but it's also a very human document — a king trying to secure his legacy in the face of decline. Luna: It's almost like a modern CEO's farewell letter to the board, listing all the dividends he paid. Lucas: That's a perfect comparison. And the papyrus is also fascinating because it's written in hieratic — the cursive script they used for everyday documents, not the fancy hieroglyphs you see on temple walls. So this wasn't meant to be displayed; it was a working document, maybe kept in a temple archive. It's as close as we get to a bureaucratic record from ancient Egypt, not a monument. Luna: That makes it feel more real, somehow — like actual bookkeeping, not just propaganda. Lucas: Exactly. And because it's so detailed, it lets historians calculate the scale of the temple economy. For instance, the papyrus lists donations of over 85,000 cattle and herds of goats and oxen, plus thousands of bees and honey jars. The temples weren't just religious centers; they were ranches, farms, and storehouses that supported entire communities. Luna: So the priests were basically running a conglomerate. Lucas: They were. And that concentration of wealth created real social tensions. The Harris Papyrus is the official version — but we also have records from Deir el-Medina that show the workers going on strike because their grain rations were late. One text even records them sitting down outside the Ramesseum and refusing to work until they got paid. Luna: So despite all those donations, the people at the bottom were still struggling. Lucas: Exactly. And then there's the famous harem conspiracy, right at the end of Ramses III's life. His secondary wife, Tiye, and her son Pentawere tried to assassinate the king to seize the throne. We know from a judicial papyrus that the plot was uncovered and the conspirators were tried — some were executed, others were forced to commit suicide. Luna: Wait, that's the same Ramses III, right? The one writing this papyrus? Lucas: The very same. And here's the twist: the Harris Papyrus was probably written before the conspiracy was discovered, or at least before it was fully resolved. So it's like the king's final public statement — 'I did all this for the gods' — and then he's killed in that palace intrigue. It adds a layer of irony to the whole document. Luna: That's wild. He's pouring all this wealth into the temples, and his own family is plotting to kill him. Lucas: It really is. And the papyrus itself is a primary source that lets us see the gap between the official image and the messy reality. He presents himself as a pious, generous ruler, but we also know that his reign saw the beginning of Egypt's long decline. The New Kingdom's power was fading, and within a few decades, the country would split apart. Luna: So the Harris Papyrus is like a snapshot of the moment before the crash. Lucas: Yes. And it's also one of the few documents that gives us a concrete picture of how the temple economy worked. For example, it lists specific festivals — like the Opet festival at Karnak and the Beautiful Feast of the Valley — and how many offerings were given on each day. These festivals weren't just religious rituals; they were massive social events that redistributed food and wealth to the population. Luna: So the temples were like the welfare system of ancient Egypt. Lucas: In a way, yes. The king gave to the gods, and the gods, through their priests, were expected to feed the people. That was the social contract. And the Harris Papyrus shows Ramses III doubling down on that contract, even as the economy was straining under the cost of constant warfare and the influx of foreign laborers. Luna: It's amazing that we have such a detailed record from so long ago. Lucas: It is. And the papyrus is also a masterpiece of scribal craft. It's written in neat columns of hieratic, with red ink for headings and black for the body text. The scribe who copied it must have worked for weeks. And at the end, there's a kind of colophon, like a signature, saying it was written in the 32nd year of Ramses III's reign — the last year of his life. Luna: So this was truly his final word. Lucas: His final word to the gods, to his successors, and to us. It's a document that tries to control his legacy, but it also leaves clues about the cracks in the system — the concentration of wealth, the labor unrest, the political intrigue. And that's why it's such a valuable piece of history: it's not just a list of donations, it's a window into the soul of an empire in its twilight. Luna: It makes you wonder what future historians would make of our own tax records. Lucas: Ha, exactly. Maybe they'd see the same gap between what we say and what we do. The Harris Papyrus is a reminder that even the most powerful rulers are just trying to justify themselves — and that eventually, the truth comes out. Luna: Well, I'm grateful that this one survived. It's a time capsule. Lucas: And it's just one of many papyri that survive from this period. If you want to explore more, you can look up the Papyrus Turin 1887, which records the trial of the harem conspirators. It's a gripping read, even in translation. But for now, I think we've given you a good taste of the Harris Papyrus and why it matters. Luna: Thanks for bringing it to life, Lucas. Lucas: Thanks for listening. And remember, if you want to support deep dives like this, you can always find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Until next time, keep questioning the past.