Thursday, 2 April 2020

A plot to murder the King - Ramses 111 at Medinet Habu





Towards the end of Ramses 111 rule, a Lower wife Tiy was found to be the main culprit in a death plot against Ramses; she had hoped to see her son Pertwere succeed to the throne so a  priest who practiced the arts of  magic created wax figurines, potions and wrote magical spells, In ancient Egypt words were magical, and had the power to evoke the  of power  life and death. The spells cast against Ramses and the black magic did not kill him, unfortunately for the conspirators of this devious plot, their intentions were considered as deadly and as serious as an actual physical assault on Ramses, it was considered that the magic invoked was as terrible and a real as a  threat as trying to cut him down with a sword.

Thirty conspirators of the harem were put on trial, they were sentenced to death and told to commit suicide in front of the court or in their cells, after their trial, ten judges also faced trial for having taken meals with the accused during the trials, they were condemned to have their ears and nose cut off.

Recently Ramses body has been put through a scanner and it was discovered that his throat had been cut.
 


Ramses also considered tomb robbery a very serious offence and it was at Medinet Habu that the Kenbet (court) dealt with the criminals who violated the tombs of the kings. The scribes recorded the trials and confessions and the records were then hidden for safe keeping.  Punishment for this crime was to have the nose and ears cut off and to be impaled on a stake on the mountain side.

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