Ramesses III and the Harem Conspiracy: Kingship Saved as Brutal Coup Backfires Miserably – Part II
Even though Pharaoh Ramesses III had been the master of all that he surveyed – striking awe in the hearts of his enemies and earning admiration among his subjects – the glory days were drawing to a close. The survivor of an assassination attempt which was the result of a dastardly scheme of some members of the royal household and also his confidantes, the king who had strode the Egyptian mindscape like a colossus couldn’t have earned a worse end. The conspirators were, of course, subjected to a trial and intense interrogations; and many had to part with their lives for daring to eliminate a god on earth.
The eastern colossus of Ramesses III, standing at around 6 meters against the pylon entrance to the barque-shrine temple at Karnak; erected by the king to receive the barques of the Theban triad. The Pylon that featured traditional scenes of the king smiting his enemies only differed from Karnak’s other similar entrances in its lack of flagstaffs.
