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The Ancients · History Hit

Ramesses the Great: Death of a Dynasty

March 1, 2026·57 min·5 clips
Ramesses II carved his version of the Battle of Kadesh on temple walls to make it truth, even if the gods knew otherwise.
The scene is monumental, but the conversation keeps it grounded. Dr. Campbell Price walks through Ramesses II's statue cult, where images of the king were objects of prayer, not background decoration. Military personnel are described turning to huge colossal images of the pharaoh for divine answers. Abu Simbel becomes the test case. Price places it near Egypt's southernmost modern border, on the shores of what is now Lake Nasser and into ancient Nubia. Yes, the four seated colossal statues could read as a warning to Nubia. But intimidation is only part of the story. The temples also make a sacred claim. Nefertari gets another temple, with the chief queen linked to Hathor, so the complex becomes a paired statement about royal divinity. His and hers, but with theology attached. Ramesses and Nefertari come across as figures worthy of worship, not just political actors with impressive architecture. Price's key word is avatars. Ramesses had a series of divine avatars, each with different names and a material form in statues. Those statues were how worshippers addressed the king and hoped for answers. Then Abu Simbel's Holy of Holies sharpens the whole point: Ramesses sits shoulder to shoulder with Ptah, Reharachdi, and Amun. That placement does the talking. The episode frames the 19th dynasty through a pharaoh presented through scale, ritual, and a blunt claim to godhood.

As heard by us

Abu Simbel becomes a focused study of how Ramesses II turned kingship into worship.

Ramesses II comes through as a ruler intent on making divinity visible. At Abu Simbel, in ancient Nubia on the shores of what is now Lake Nasser, the four colossal seated images turn kingship into an object of worship, while the neighboring temple links Queen Nefertari with…

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You can watch Ramesses II make his divine case at Abu Simbel, one colossal seated statue at a time.

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