Latest / Ramses the Great: Egypt's Most Powerful Pharaoh — Fexingo History / Ramses the Greats Supply Lines Feeding an Empire
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- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Ramses's monuments and battles, but I want to zoom in on something that makes all that possible: supply lines. Moving grain, beer, and dried fish to feed an army of tens of thousands isn't glamorous, but without it, the empire crumbles. Luna: Yeah, I imagine you can't exactly march into Canaan and just buy a sandwich. Lucas: Exactly. And we actually have some remarkable records of this. The Papyrus Anastasi series — particularly Papyrus Anastasi V — contains a letter from a garrison commander at the fortress of Tjaru, which is on the Way of Horus, the main road from Egypt into Canaan. He's complaining that his promised supplies of grain and beer haven't arrived. Lucas: Yes, late in his reign. The commander's name is lost, but the text is incredibly vivid. He says something like 'my provisions have been cut off, and my men are suffering.' It's one of the few documents that gives us a glimpse of the logistical friction behind the grand narratives. Lucas: You see, the Egyptian army didn't rely on foraging as much as other ancient armies. They had a centralized supply system. Grain was collected as tax from the Nile Delta and stored in massive granaries at Per-Ramesses. Then it was shipped up the coast or overland by donkey caravan. Luna: So it's a state-run operation, not just soldiers grabbing what they need. Lucas: Right. And that has pros and cons. On one hand, it keeps the troops loyal and well-fed. On the other, it creates a single point of failure. If the grain barges are delayed by a low Nile or if the donkeys get sick, the whole system breaks down. And we know from the Papyrus Anastasi V that it did break down sometimes. Lucas: Then there's the question of how they supplied the big campaigns. For the Battle of Kadesh, Ramses had to move maybe 20,000 men, plus horses and chariots, across the Sinai and up through Canaan. That's a logistics nightmare. Luna: Did they use the Nile for that? The Nile doesn't reach Canaan. Lucas: Great question. They used the Nile as far as the Delta, then transferred to coastal ships that sailed to the ports of Canaan, like Jaffa. From there, it was overland. The Hittites, by contrast, relied more on local levies and foraging, which made them faster but less reliable. That might explain why Ramses was able to hold out at Kadesh even when surprised. Luna: So having a good supply chain can save you even when the battle starts badly. Lucas: Exactly. And it's not just the army. The workers building Abu Simbel and the Ramesseum also needed to be fed. There's a document from Deir el-Medina that talks about rations for the royal tomb builders — but for Ramses's big projects, they used forced labor and paid them in grain. The whole economy runs on grain. Lucas: You know, this is actually a good moment to mention something. Making these episodes — digging into Papyrus Anastasi V and these supply details — it takes time and resources. And we keep the show completely ad-free. That's only possible because a handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small group, but it literally funds the research and production. Luna: Yeah, and it really does make a difference. We don't have any sponsors, so it's listener-supported all the way. Lucas: Anyway, back to the supply lines. One more fascinating detail: the Egyptians used standardized containers. They called them 'khar' — a unit of volume for grain. And they had scribes whose whole job was counting and recording every jar of beer and every sack of emmer wheat that left the granaries. The level of bureaucracy is mind-boggling. Luna: So there were ancient logistics officers? Lucas: Essentially yes. The title 'overseer of the fortress of the Great of Victories' — that's one of Ramses's names — appears on seals found at Tjaru. That officer was responsible for receiving and distributing supplies to the garrisons along the Way of Horus. We even have a clay bulla with his seal impression. Lucas: And it's not just grain. They also moved wine, oil, and even live cattle. The Papyrus Anastasi IV mentions a shipment of 3,000 loaves of bread and 20 jugs of beer for a single outpost. That gives you a sense of scale. Luna: Was the beer the same as modern beer? Or more like a thick porridge drink? Lucas: More like a thick, nourishing brew — low alcohol, high calorie. It was a staple ration, almost like liquid bread. And it didn't spoil as quickly as water, so it was ideal for long marches. Lucas: There's also evidence that they used dried fish as a protein source. Fish from the Nile were salted and dried, then packed in baskets. The Papyrus Anastasi VI mentions 'fish of the river' being sent to the fortress at Tjaru. So the soldiers weren't just eating grain. Luna: It's amazing that we have these kinds of records. I always think of ancient armies as just marching and fighting, not worrying about grocery lists. Lucas: Right, and that's the gap we're trying to fill. The epic battles and monuments get all the attention, but the quiet work of the supply scribes and the donkey drivers kept the whole thing running. And when it failed, campaigns could grind to a halt. Lucas: We have another letter — Papyrus Anastasi VIII — where a commander in Canaan warns that his troops are on the verge of mutiny because the promised grain didn't arrive. He says 'the soldiers are saying, 'We have no food, we have no water.' It's a desperate plea. Luna: Did Ramses ever face a mutiny because of bad supplies? Lucas: We don't have a direct record of a mutiny during his reign, but we do know from the food riot episode we covered earlier that there was unrest in Per-Ramesses when grain prices spiked. So the system wasn't perfect. But compared to other ancient empires, Egypt's centralized logistics were remarkably efficient. Lucas: The Hittites, for instance, didn't have the Nile. They relied on a network of forts and local supplies. That made them more vulnerable to crop failures. In fact, some historians argue that the peace treaty between Ramses and Hattusili III was partly driven by both sides being exhausted and facing supply issues at home. Luna: So logistics might have actually shaped the course of history more than any single battle. Lucas: Absolutely. The Battle of Kadesh is often seen as a military stalemate, but if you look at the supply lines, the Egyptians could afford to stay in the field longer because they had better logistics. The Hittites had to retreat because they couldn't keep their army fed indefinitely. So in a way, the supply system won the war. Lucas: And it wasn't just the army. The entire state apparatus — the temples, the royal court, the workers — ran on grain. The granaries at Per-Ramesses were like a national bank. Grain was the currency of the age. Luna: It really puts the phrase 'bread and circuses' in perspective. If you control the bread, you control the empire. Lucas: Exactly. And Ramses understood that. He built massive storage facilities and maintained a fleet of transport ships. There's a relief at Medinet Habu showing ships unloading grain at a dock. It's not as famous as the battle scenes, but it's just as important. Lucas: So next time you look at a statue of Ramses, remember that behind all that stone and gold, there were thousands of people counting jars of beer and driving donkeys to keep the whole thing afloat. Luna: I'll never look at a donkey the same way again. Lucas: Nor should you. Those donkeys were the unsung heroes of the empire.