Latest / Ramses the Great: Egypt's Most Powerful Pharaoh — Fexingo History / Ramses's Firstborn Son: Crown Prince Amunherkhepeshef
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've spent a lot of time on Ramses himself — his battles, his temples, his diplomacy. But there's this figure who's almost invisible in the shadow of the great pharaoh: his eldest son, the crown prince Amunherkhepeshef. He was meant to be the next Ramses, but he died before his father, and his story raises all sorts of questions about succession, family rivalry, and even conspiracy. Luna: Wait — Ramses had a crown prince who died young? I always assumed Merneptah was his direct heir. Lucas: Merneptah was his thirteenth son. Amunherkhepeshef was the firstborn, and his mother was Nefertari — the great royal wife. So he was the golden child, groomed from childhood. He even accompanied his father to the Battle of Kadesh when he was just a boy — maybe ten years old. Egyptian records show he was given the title 'Generalissimo' while still a child. That's not just propaganda; it's telling you he was being positioned as the future. Luna: He went to Kadesh as a child? That's intense. Lucas: Absolutely. The Egyptians made sure to record his presence in the official accounts of the battle. He's shown in reliefs at Karnak and the Ramesseum, riding in a chariot behind his father. And later, he became a key figure in the diplomatic marriage to the Hittite princess — Ramses's wedding to the daughter of Hattusili III and Puduhepa. Amunherkhepeshef was sent to the border to escort the princess to Egypt. He was the face of the dynasty. Luna: So he was both a military figure and a diplomat. What else do we know about him? Lucas: We have his titles from inscriptions: 'Overseer of All Works of the King', 'Eldest Son of the King of His Body', 'Heir Apparent'. He had a large household, and we know he owned estates. His name actually changed over time — he was born Amunherwenemef, which means 'Amun is on his right hand', but later he took the name Amunherkhepeshef, 'Amun is with his strong arm'. That shift might reflect his growing military role, or maybe a religious shift, we're not sure. Luna: His name changed? That feels significant. What happened to him? Lucas: Here's where it gets murky. He died in the thirtieth year of Ramses's reign — around his forties, probably. The cause is unknown. There's no record of illness or battle wound. Some scholars speculate he might have died in a plague or an accident. But given that he was the eldest son of Nefertari, and Nefertari herself died around year 24, there's been speculation about court intrigue. His half-brother Merneptah, son of Queen Isetnofret, eventually became pharaoh. And Merneptah was not even the second son — there were at least two other princes ahead of him, Ramses and Khaemwaset, who also died. Luna: So all the older sons died? That sounds like more than coincidence. Lucas: Exactly. And that's where the conspiracy theories come in. Some Egyptologists have suggested that there might have been a power struggle between the 'Nefertari faction' and the 'Isetnofret faction'. Isetnofret was another of Ramses's wives, and her sons — Ramses, Khaemwaset, and Merneptah — were highly prominent. Khaemwaset, in particular, was a high priest of Ptah and a famous scholar. But all three of Isetnofret's sons outlived Nefertari's only son, Amunherkhepeshef. And when Amunherkhepeshef died, the next in line, Ramses junior, also died shortly after. Then Khaemwaset died. That left Merneptah, who was maybe the fourth or fifth son overall, to become pharaoh. Luna: That's a lot of deaths. Do we have any evidence of foul play? Lucas: Hard evidence? No. Egyptian records are silent on the causes. But we do know that Ramses reigned for 66 years, and he outlived at least twelve of his sons. That's not unusual — infant mortality was high, and life spans were shorter. But the pattern of the most senior princes dying in quick succession around year 30-35 of Ramses's reign is suspicious. And there's a famous papyrus — the 'Turin Judicial Papyrus' — that describes a harem conspiracy during the reign of Ramses III, much later. So the idea of palace intrigue isn't far-fetched. Luna: So maybe the 'Isetnofret faction' engineered their rise? That's dark. Lucas: It's possible. But let's not get carried away. There's another possibility: disease. We know from other sources that epidemics swept through the eastern Mediterranean around that time. The Hittite king Suppiluliuma I lost his son to a plague. So it could have been natural. But what's fascinating is that Ramses himself seems to have promoted Merneptah very late. Merneptah didn't become crown prince until around year 55 of Ramses's reign, after decades of being a background figure. That suggests Ramses might have been reluctant to name him. Luna: So who was the intended heir before that? Did Ramses ever name anyone? Lucas: We have a few clues. In the tomb of Amunherkhepeshef in the Valley of the Queens — it's called QV44 — he's depicted as a king. He wears the uraeus, the royal cobra, and he's shown making offerings to the gods as a pharaoh would. That's a huge statement. It means that even after his death, he was being portrayed as a rightful king who never reigned. His tomb is also decorated with scenes from the Book of the Dead, but with a royal twist. So Ramses clearly intended him to succeed. Luna: So his tomb says he was meant to be pharaoh. That's pretty definitive. Lucas: Right. And then after him, we have another prince, Ramses junior, who also has a royal tomb — QV55 — with similar kingly depictions. So it seems like Ramses designated two sons in succession, and both died. By the time Khaemwaset died, Ramses was old, and he finally turned to Merneptah, who was already in his fifties. It's a tragic story of a dynasty's hopes crumbling. Luna: What happened to Amunherkhepeshef's family? Did he have children? Lucas: We don't know of any children. There are no records of a wife or offspring. That's strange for a crown prince — you'd expect him to have a harem and produce heirs. Maybe he died before having children, or maybe records were suppressed. But his tomb was used later for a different burial, so his mummy isn't there. In fact, we haven't found his mummy. There's a cache of royal mummies from the Valley of the Kings, but Amunherkhepeshef isn't among them. He's vanished. Luna: That's eerie. So his body is lost? Lucas: As far as we know. And that feeds the mystery. If he died of natural causes, you'd expect a proper burial. But if there was a conspiracy, maybe his body was disposed of. Or maybe his tomb was robbed and his mummy destroyed. We just don't know. But his story humanizes Ramses — behind the colossi and the propaganda, there was a father who lost his sons, one by one. Luna: It's almost like a Greek tragedy. The mightiest pharaoh, but he couldn't protect his own line. Lucas: Exactly. And that's what makes him so interesting. For all his power, he couldn't control death. And the fact that his dynasty continued — through Merneptah, who was not the favorite — shows that history doesn't follow the script. The prince in the shadow became the king, and he even had to deal with the aftermath of Ramses's long reign, including the first recorded peace treaty. Luna: So Merneptah ended up being a capable pharaoh in his own right? Lucas: He was. He defended Egypt against the Sea Peoples and the Libyans, and his reign is marked by the famous 'Israel Stele', which contains the earliest known reference to Israel outside the Bible. But he's always compared to his father, and he never quite escaped that shadow. And part of that is because Ramses lived so long and built so much. The crown prince who should have been — Amunherkhepeshef — remains a poignant 'what if' of Egyptian history.