The Case of the Dead Pharaoh

An ancient Egyptian papyrus kept in Turin records the story of a conspiracy against Pharaoh Ramesses the Third. The text reports that the center of the conspiracy was one of the younger sons, whose real name has not been preserved, with his mother, Queen Teye.

Having won over some of the minor wives and influential dignitaries to their side, they resorted to the darkest magic, trying to kill the pharaoh with the help of witchcraft scrolls and wax figurines. Subsequently, the conspirators wanted to take advantage of the confusion during the transfer of power and place Queen Teye’s son on the throne. However, the intrigue was revealed, and they all appeared before the court, which acted without any leniency.

The criminals were deprived of their names, thereby damaging their sacred body - so the son of Queen Teye forever became simply “The One Who Had a Different Name,” and the other conspirators were named in an even more mocking manner. However, the Egyptian judges did not forget about physical bodies, and one can certainly say that their death was terrible.

But what happened to the pharaoh himself? Has the plot achieved its goal? Did the wax figures work? Oddly enough, there are no direct indications of this in the papyri: it is only established that he died in 1156 BC, at the respectable age of 65 years. But evidence was found in the remains of Ramesses the Third himself, whose mummy has survived to this day.

Photo: thehistoryblog.com

Computed tomography allowed a group of scientists from Italy and Germany to examine in great detail everything that remained of the divine pharaoh, through many layers of tarred matter that protects the mummy from decay. In the resulting images, they saw a brutal cut in the throat, a wound up to 70 mm wide, affecting all the soft tissue all the way to the spine, damaging the trachea and large arteries. It doesn't look like an accidental cut while shaving - especially since there was an amulet inside it.

Photo: thehistoryblog.com

Among the ancient Egyptians, the “ Eye of Horus ” served as a common means of healing wounds: according to legend, the evil Set deprived the sun god of his eye, but then it was restored. Of course, even the priests hardly seriously planned to heal a cut throat by placing an amulet in it. In this case, the “Eye of Horus” is called upon to heal the pharaoh’s wound in the afterlife, since this is impossible in the hereafter.

So, there is murder. But whose will guided the killer? Scientists turned to another mummy, the mysterious “Nameless E,” found at the end of the 19th century. Buried in the royal tomb, in the most brilliant society, the mummy immediately attracted the attention of scientists, since it lay in a sarcophagus without a name or decoration, like a “renegade” whom great neighbors were forced to only tolerate in their tomb. An autopsy showed that the dead features were distorted by a nightmarish grimace. Egyptologists soon began to suspect that the mummy of the “Nameless Prince” and the “He Who Had Another Name” were one and the same person.

Confirming this finally turned out to be quite elementary: scientists compared the DNA of the mummy with the DNA of samples obtained from the mummy of Ramesses the Third: “Nameless E” is that same rebellious nameless prince.

Turning again to the tomograph, the scientists examined him, immediately noticing the crumpled skin on his neck, reminiscent of strangulation grooves, characteristic signs of strangulation or hanging. Let us add here that the mummification was carried out without removing the internal organs, as if “in a hurry,” with disdain, and the body was wrapped in unclean animal skin. All this suggests that “He Who Had Another Name” committed suicide in order to avoid a much more painful execution, and was buried as a criminal prince and a suicide prince.

Photo: thehistoryblog.com

However, it is too early to put a final point in this matter. “Look for who benefits,” Agatha Christie teaches us, and a real detective would have noticed that the official heir, the future Ramses the Fourth, who benefited most from the death of the pharaoh, could have ordered the murder. In fact, nothing stopped him, having seized power, accusing the hapless black magicians of a crime and at the same time eliminating a whole gang of competitors.

Alas, it is unlikely that any new methods will make it possible to find out this, establishing the truth in such a complicated matter. Unless we wait for the appearance of a time machine or a real brilliant detective.