The Plot to Kill Ramesses III: What the Trial Papyrus and His Mummy Reveal

Near the end of his reign, Ramesses III faced a plot from inside his own household: a royal wife, Tiye, was accused of trying to put her son on the throne instead of the chosen heir. A papyrus in Turin records the trial that followed — messages smuggled out of the harem, accusations of wax-figure magic, prisoners renamed with insults, even judges punished for misconduct — yet it never says plainly what happened to the king. In 2012, CT scans of his mummy revealed a deep wound to the throat, and a second mummy, "Unknown Man E", turned out to be very likely his son. This episode separates what the court claimed, what the science found, and what remains a hypothesis. 00:00 A Record That Never Says It 01:26 An Old King in a Hard Time 02:55 The Question of the Heir 04:13 Messages From the Harem 05:40 Wax and Words 06:48 The Court of Examination 08:02 The Names They Were Given 09:49 The Prince With Another Name 10:35 When the Judges Were Judged 11:34 A Voice From Beyond the Grave? 12:26 What the Scanner Saw 14:07 Unknown Man E 16:01 What We Can Say Nilebound Stories: Ancient Egypt through the lives people lived and the choices they faced.