yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

Ramses, Master of Diplomacy | Lost Treasures of Egypt


2m read
·Nov 11, 2024

[music playing]

NARRATOR: On the border with Ancient Nubia, Ramses built another massive monument, the mountain temple of Abu Simbel. Colleen has come here searching for clues about how Ramses's military skill contributed to the success of his empire. This is, like, the greatest hits of Ramses's victories.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Ramses consolidated his empire in the south and pushed north to confront his powerful enemies, the Hittites.

[music playing]

In temples all over Egypt, he recorded his victory against the Hittites, or so he wanted us to think.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Around 1300 BC, the Egyptians fought their arch rivals, the Hittites, at the fortress city of Kadesh in possibly the largest chariot battle in history. The light Egyptian chariots had the edge over the heavy Hittite war machines. Ramses recorded the victory as a massacre. But in reality, it was more of a draw. The two kings agreed a truce, resulting in the world's first recorded peace treaty.

[music playing]

It enabled the Egyptians to spend all of their resources on peacetime pursuits, building massive constructions like this, and usher in a golden age for Egypt.

NARRATOR: Instead of waging costly military campaigns, Ramses built his success through a mastery of diplomacy. But to win the hearts of his citizens, he still needed to depict himself as a mighty warrior.

[music playing]

He's on his chariot alone, with the reins tied behind his back so that he's free to shoot his bow. We know that this is a little bit of propaganda because even the hieroglyphic text says that his shield-bearer Mena was riding in the chariot with him.

NARRATOR: Ramses was a master of ancient public relations, happy to bend the truth to promote an image which would appeal to his people.

[music playing]

In the temple's inner sanctum, Colleen discovers another secret of Ramses's success. Here, by placing his statue between the greatest gods of Egypt, Ramses used a clever trick of the light to engineer his own divinity.

[music playing]

Twice a year, the sun rays reach all the way through the temple, illuminating these figures in the sanctuary.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Colleen believes Ramses used this solar alignment to convey a powerful message, that he was the living embodiment of the Sun God. Truly, here at Abu Simbel, Ramses II is not just a king, he is a god.

[music playing]

More Articles

View All
The Bushmaster Breeds Killer Babies | National Geographic
A Bushmaster, the largest pit viper in the world, has a bite so venomous that humans have only a 25 percent survival rate. That is not good. She can sense the faintest chemical odors and vibrations in her environment. She has detected prey—would not want …
Warren Buffett isn't Buying ANYTHING Right Now | (Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting)
So recently, Berkshire Hathaway had its 2020 annual shareholder meeting where Warren Buffett sat down with Gregg Abel to discuss all things finance and Berkshire Hathaway. What was very interesting is that in that meeting, it was revealed that year-to-dat…
Analyzing mistakes when finding extrema (example 1) | AP Calculus AB | Khan Academy
Pamela was asked to find where ( h(x) = x^3 - 6x^2 + 12x ) has a relative extremum. This is her solution. So, step one, it looks like she tried to take the derivative. Step two, she tries to find the solution to find where the derivative is equal to zero…
Fishin' Frenzy Makes Their Own Path | Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks
[Music] Where are the fish, man? See anything spectacular? I see a lot of water, see a lot of other boats. Yeah, there’s no tuna though. The spot we’re at was hot the last couple days, but apparently it’s all dried up. It makes it extremely difficult for…
What Is The Resolution Of The Eye?
Hey, Vsauce. Michael here. I am at the White House, in America’s capital, Washington, D.C. America makes a lot of feature films every year - Hollywood. But they don’t make the most feature films every year. Nigeria makes more. But the country that makes t…
This Unstoppable Robot Could Save Your Life
This is a robot that can grow to hundreds of times its size, and it can’t be stopped by adhesives or spikes. Although it looks kind of simple and cheap, it has dozens of potential applications, including, one day maybe saving your life. This video is spon…