The murder of Pharaoh Ramesses III is one of the oldest documented political conspiracies in human history. For centuries, historians knew that a plot had been hatched against the aging pharaoh, but one crucial question remained unanswered: Did the conspirators succeed?

Today, thanks to ancient court records and modern forensic science, we know the answer. They did.

The Last Great Pharaoh

Ramesses III, the second pharaoh of Egypt’s Twentieth Dynasty, ruled from approximately 1186 to 1155 BC. Often regarded as the last great pharaoh of the New Kingdom, he successfully defended Egypt against foreign invasions, including attacks by the mysterious Sea Peoples.

Yet despite his military successes, danger lurked much closer to home. The threat came from within the royal palace itself.

The Harem Conspiracy

Like many pharaohs before him, Ramesses III maintained a large royal harem consisting of numerous wives and concubines. These women often came from powerful aristocratic and military families, making the harem as much a political institution as a domestic one.

Although Ramesses III likely had many wives, the names of only two queens are known with certainty: Tyti and Tiye.

Tyti’s son, the crown prince Amonherkhepeshef, was the designated heir to the throne and would later become Pharaoh Ramesses IV.

Queen Tiye, however, had other plans.

She wanted her own son, Prince Pentawer, to inherit the throne. To achieve this, she organized a conspiracy involving members of the royal household, palace officials, military personnel, and other women of the harem.

The conspiracy became known to modern scholars as the Harem Conspiracy.

The Plot Against the King

The details of the assassination attempt survive in a remarkable ancient document known as the Judicial Papyrus of Turin.

Rather than providing a detailed account of the crime, the papyrus records the names of those accused, the charges brought against them, and the punishments they received.

Many of the accused are identified by insulting pseudonyms rather than their real names. One conspirator, for example, is called Mesedsure, meaning “Re hates him.”

The conspirators included:

• Queen Tiye.
• Prince Pentawer.
• Pebekkamen, chief of the royal chamber.
• Royal butlers.
• Treasury officials.
• Military standard-bearers.
• Scribes and other palace officials.

The plot appears to have involved not only the assassination of Ramesses III but also an attempted coup designed to place Pentawer on the throne.

Ancient texts even suggest that the conspirators employed magic as part of their scheme. According to the papyri, wax figurines and magical spells were used to weaken or immobilize the king’s guards.

Did Ramesses III Survive?

For many years, scholars debated whether the assassination attempt had failed. The Judicial Papyrus opens with the full royal titulary of Ramesses III and includes instructions supposedly issued by the king himself:

“As for the matters which the people, I know not who, have plotted, go and examine them.”

Because of this, many historians believed Ramesses III survived long enough to oversee the trials.

Modern science has dramatically changed that view.

In 2012, CT scans of Ramesses III’s mummy revealed a massive wound across his throat. The cut measured approximately 7 centimeters (nearly 3 inches) wide and sliced through the trachea, esophagus, and major blood vessels.

The injury would almost certainly have killed him instantly.

The scans also revealed that embalmers had placed a protective Horus Eye amulet inside the wound, perhaps in an attempt to heal the king symbolically for the afterlife.

Ramesses III was ultimately buried in tomb KV11 in the Valley of the Kings, a magnificent tomb whose walls are covered with scenes from funerary texts intended to guide the king safely into the afterlife.

Today, there is little doubt that the conspirators succeeded in murdering the pharaoh. The trials were most likely conducted by his successor, Ramesses IV, in the name of his deceased father.

The Ancient Trial

A special tribunal consisting of twelve officials was appointed to investigate the conspiracy. The judges included treasury overseers, military officers, royal butlers, scribes, and other high-ranking officials.

Over the course of several trials, dozens of conspirators were found guilty.

The Judicial Papyrus repeatedly states: “They found him guilty. They caused his punishment to overtake him.”

In total, at least twenty-eight people were executed, while others, including Prince Pentawer, were apparently permitted to take their own lives.

The papyrus records Pentawer’s fate in chillingly brief language: “They left him in his place. He took his own life.”

Many scholars believe Pentawer committed suicide by poison.

Corruption in the Court

The conspiracy produced yet another scandal. Some of the accused women apparently attempted to seduce members of the tribunal during the proceedings.

Several judges were discovered secretly feasting and consorting with the women they were supposed to be prosecuting. The consequences were severe.

Two judges, Paibese and Mai, had their noses and ears cut off, a punishment intended to permanently disgrace them. Another official was formally reprimanded, while the fate of others remains uncertain.

What Happened to Tiye and Pentawer?

The exact fate of Queen Tiye is unknown, although she was almost certainly executed or forced to commit suicide.

Prince Pentawer was likewise condemned and likely died by his own hand.

Some scholars believe that the mysterious mummy known as “Unknown Man E,” discovered in the royal cache at Deir el-Bahri, may be Prince Pentawer. The mummy was buried unusually, wrapped in a goatskin, a material considered ritually impure by the ancient Egyptians. Genetic studies have suggested that the individual was closely related to Ramesses III, lending support to the theory. However, the identification remains uncertain, and not all Egyptologists agree that the mummy is Pentawer.

After their deaths, their names and images appear to have been deliberately erased in an attempt to deny them an afterlife, an ancient Egyptian practice similar to what later Romans called damnatio memoriae.

The Egyptians were so thorough that virtually everything we know about Tiye and Pentawer comes from the surviving trial records.

One of History’s First Murder Mysteries

The Harem Conspiracy remains one of the most extraordinary criminal cases from the ancient world. Through a combination of ancient papyri, archaeological evidence, and modern medical imaging, historians have reconstructed an assassination plot that unfolded more than 3,000 years ago.

It is a reminder that even the most powerful ruler in the ancient world was not safe from betrayal by those closest to him.