Latest / Ramses the Great: Egypt's Most Powerful Pharaoh — Fexingo History / Ramses the Great's Stables: The War Horses of Per-Ramesses
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- Luna: So we've talked about Ramses's chariots, his army, his Nubian gold — but we never really got to the horses themselves. Lucas: That's right. And the horse was absolutely central to everything Ramses did. His war machine, his processions, his image as a warrior pharaoh — it all rested on four legs. But we tend to think of the chariot as the weapon, not the animal pulling it. Lucas: Ramses's capital, Per-Ramesses, was built with massive stables — some archaeologists think they could hold over a thousand horses. The city was laid out so that the royal stables were right next to the palace and the chariot garrison. Horses were that important. Luna: A thousand horses? That's a lot of hay. Lucas: And a lot of water. Per-Ramesses was in the Delta, so the Nile branches provided plenty of that. But feeding a horse in ancient Egypt wasn't simple — they needed barley, straw, and sometimes dates for energy. The logistics alone were a huge operation. Lucas: The Egyptians didn't actually have horses until the Second Intermediate Period, around the time the Hyksos showed up with chariots. Before that, the horse was unknown in Kemet. So the Egyptians learned chariot warfare from the Hyksos, and by the New Kingdom they'd perfected it. Luna: So Ramses's horses were descended from those Hyksos stock? Lucas: Probably, with further breeding from captured horses — from the Hittites, from the Canaanites. The Egyptians prized certain qualities: speed, stamina, and a calm temperament under noise. A war horse had to charge into arrow fire and not bolt. Lucas: We even know the names of some of Ramses's personal horses. There's an inscription listing his favorites: 'Victory in Thebes' and 'Mut is Content' are two. They were given elaborate names, like people. Horses were individuals, not just equipment. Luna: Victory in Thebes — that's such a Ramses name. Lucas: It really is. Every name was a statement. And when a pharaoh rode his chariot, he was often alone with his driver, the maryannu — the elite chariot warrior. The bond between the two men and the horses was everything. If a horse panicked, the chariot could flip, and you'd be dead. Lucas: Training was intensive. We know from the Hittite text called the Kikkuli treatise — named after a Hittite horse trainer — that horses were conditioned over months. The Egyptians likely had similar methods. They'd run the horses in harness, building endurance, and they'd practice turning and stopping on command. Luna: I've been meaning to say — you know, we keep this show ad-free because we believe good history shouldn't be interrupted. If you've been enjoying these deep dives into Ramses's world, and you want to support that, there's a link at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's just a way to keep us going without annoying ads. Lucas: Absolutely. And it helps us keep digging into details like horse-training manuals. Anyway — the Kikkuli text is fascinating. It describes a 180-day conditioning program: long trots, interval training, and even a kind of horse massage. Some scholars think the Egyptians might have adopted similar ideas after the Battle of Kadesh. Lucas: After Kadesh, Ramses had a lot of respect for Hittite chariotry. He'd seen how effective they were. So it makes sense he'd incorporate their training methods. And of course, he also imported Hittite horses as part of the peace treaty — there's a record of Hattusili III sending him horses. Luna: So he was basically breeding a super-horse. Lucas: Exactly. And remember, Ramses lived into his 90s. He was riding chariots well into old age — or at least being depicted that way. But it wasn't just war. Horses were used in religious processions too. At the Opet Festival, the barque of Amun-Re was sometimes pulled by horses. Lucas: The downside: horses didn't live long in those conditions. Warhorses could die in battle from exhaustion or wounds. And after a pharaoh's death, his favorite horses were sometimes sacrificed and buried near his tomb. At the Ramesseum, there are traces of horse burials. Luna: That's sad — but it shows how much they meant to him. Lucas: It does. Ramses's horses were more than transport. They were symbols of his power, his speed, his connection to the god Seth — who was associated with storms and strength. When Ramses charged into battle, he wasn't just a man on a chariot. He was a force of nature, and the horses were part of that image. Lucas: If you ever visit the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, there's a chariot from the New Kingdom on display — not Ramses's, but from that era. It's light, about 30 kilos, and designed for two horses. You can see how the harness worked, how the driver balanced. It makes you appreciate the skill of both horse and rider. Luna: I'll look out for that next time. For now, I think I have a new appreciation for what went into those battle scenes we see on temple walls. Lucas: And that's the thing — those carvings at Abu Simbel and the Ramesseum show Ramses alone, but behind every victory were thousands of horses, bred, trained, and cared for. They were the unsung heroes of the empire.