Is Ramses the Great Fake News? Looks Like It

When you realise that Ramses re-inscribed monuments dedicated to others — so that it appeared they were celebrating his achievements, you realize what a peddler of fake news he was. (Image: pixabay / CC0 1.0)

New archaeological evidence indicates that Pharaoh Ramses II may not have been the Ramses the Great we all thought he was. The archaeological evidence is from an Egyptian excavation 200 miles east of the Libyan border. With these new findings, it has helped bust the formidable reputation of one of the country’s most famous pharaohs.

The unwrapped mummy of Ramses the Great.
The unwrapped mummy of Ramses II. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

The archaeologist believes that Egyptians who lived in the late Bronze Age fortress at Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham were at peace with their Libyan neighbors. This contradicts the widely held belief that Ramses the Great was waging and winning fierce wars with his neighbors in Libya, Nubia, and the Near East.

According to Dr. Nicky Nielsen, from the University of Manchester and author of the study:

The evidence included 3,300-year-old sickle blades, hand stones, querns (simple hand mills for grinding corn), and cow bones, which indicate that the Egyptians were harvesting crops and raising cattle up to 8 km away from the protection of the fort, located deep in Libyan territory.

It appears Ramses the Great was not so great

According to Dr. Nielsen:

Dr. Nielsen explained that the Egyptian’s enemy the Hittites had tricked the young king into fighting them, which led him to hastily endanger a division of his army. He was only able to escape after three other divisions of his army became involved, essentially rescuing him.

By the end of the battle, no territory had been gained; in fact, he had lost control of a large part of modern-day Syria. Dr. Nielsen added:

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