Harem Conspiracy: The Plot to Murder Ramesses III

The Harem Conspiracy was a plot, in about 1155 BC, to murder the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses III and place a junior prince on the throne. It was organised by a secondary wife, Tiye, and officials of the royal women’s household. The plot failed to change the succession, but evidence from the trial papyri and a modern CT scan of the king’s mummy shows that Ramesses III was very probably killed.

Background

Ramesses III ruled Egypt for about 31 years, from roughly 1186 to 1155 BC. Early in his reign he fought off Libyan invaders and the Sea Peoples, as told in Ramesses III and the Battle of the Delta. His later years were troubled by economic strain, delayed rations and the first recorded labour strike, by the tomb workers of Deir el-Medina.

Like other pharaohs, Ramesses III had several wives and many children. The royal “harem” was not only a place where women lived; it was a large institution with its own officials, workshops and income. Its staff and residents could form powerful factions around princes who hoped to inherit the throne.

The plot

The conspiracy centred on Tiye, a secondary queen, who wanted her son to become king instead of the designated heir, the future Ramesses IV. The son is called Pentawer in the trial record, which notes that he bore “that other name”, so Pentawer may not have been his real name. The records deliberately gave several of the guilty insulting or altered names.

Tiye was supported by harem officials and by Pebekkamen, a chamberlain of the palace, together with butlers, scribes and some army officers. Women of the harem wrote to relatives outside, including a commander of troops in Nubia, urging them to rise up against the king.

The conspirators also used magic. According to the Rollin and Lee papyri, they obtained a book of magic from the royal library and made wax figures of people, intended to weaken guards or harm the king. To ancient Egyptians, such acts were a real and serious crime.

The death of the king

The trial documents never say openly that the king died. However, they are written as if Ramesses III is speaking from beyond the grave, and he died in his 32nd regnal year, the year of the trial. For a long time Egyptologists debated whether the plot had succeeded.

In 2012 a team led by Zahi Hawass and Albert Zink published a CT scan of the king’s mummy in the British Medical Journal. It revealed a deep cut, about 7 cm wide, across the front of the throat, severing the windpipe and major blood vessels. Such a wound would have killed him almost instantly. The embalmers had placed an Eye of Horus amulet in the wound, perhaps to heal it in the afterlife.

A later study by Hawass and Sahar Saleem reported that the king’s left big toe had been cut off by a sharp blade, also probably at the time of the attack. This suggests that more than one attacker, with different weapons, took part.

The trial

Ramesses IV succeeded to the throne, showing that the plot did not achieve its aim. A court of senior officials was appointed to try the conspirators. The Judicial Papyrus of Turin lists them in groups, with each person’s offence and sentence.

Around three dozen people were condemned. Most were sentenced to death, while some of high rank, including Pentawer, were allowed to take their own lives. The fate of Tiye is not recorded in the surviving documents.

The case also exposed corruption among the judges. Several members of the court were found to have caroused with accused women while the trial was in progress. Some had their noses and ears cut off as punishment, and at least one was cleared.

Unknown Man E

Among the royal mummies found in the Deir el-Bahari cache was an unnamed young man, known as Unknown Man E. He was buried without the usual embalming and was wrapped in a goatskin, which Egyptians regarded as ritually impure.

The 2012 study found that he shared the same paternal genetic line as Ramesses III and was probably his son. Many researchers think he could be Pentawer, buried in disgrace, but this remains a strong hypothesis rather than proof.

Timeline

• c. 1186 BC: Ramesses III becomes king.
• Year 29 (c. 1157 BC): Tomb workers at Deir el-Medina strike over unpaid rations.
• Year 32 (c. 1155 BC): The conspiracy is carried out and Ramesses III dies.
• c. 1155 BC: Ramesses IV succeeds; the conspirators are tried.
• 1881: The mummies of Ramesses III and Unknown Man E are found in the Deir el-Bahari cache.
• 2012: CT scans and DNA analysis show the king’s throat was cut.

Why it matters

The Harem Conspiracy is one of the best-documented crimes of the ancient world. Its trial papyri show how Egyptian justice worked, from court procedure to punishments, and how palace politics could turn deadly. The case also shows how modern science can test old historical questions, turning a long-standing debate about the death of a pharaoh into near certainty.