The History of Egypt Podcast

04/09/2026

The Egyptian Crusade. From 1217-1221 CE, Christian warriors descended on the Nile Delta. The invasion seems almost bizarre: everything from WW2-style landing craft, to improvised nun-chucks, waterborne siege towers, and a literal (later) saint granted an audience with the Egyptian Sultan. It's a remarkable tale, and joined us to discuss his new book "The Fifth Crusade: A History of the Epic Campaign to Conquer Egypt" (Yale University Press, 2026). Interview now available on the podcast and our YouTube channel (links via Linktree in bio)

25/08/2026

Merneptah's Libyan War unfolded over 33 days in late summer c.1221 BCE, when a coalition of Libu pastoralists unexpectedly descended on the Nile Valley. The Egyptian army scrambled to respond, culminating in a bloody battle in the western Delta. Oh, and a few "Sea Peoples turned up as well. Learn more in Episode 242 "A Pyramid of Corpses" available now on all podcasting platforms ⚔⚔⚔

27/07/2026

238: Merneptah Seizes Canaan (feat. A Tribe Called Israel). Merneptah started his reign aggressively, striking a belligerent tone in his royal names and launching an expedition to Canaan in the first few years. In the process, his troops captured Ashkelon, Gezer, and Yenoam, and dealt with a tribe called "Israel." Simultaneously, Merneptah achieved a great diplomatic coup when we brought Ugarit back into the Egyptian sphere.

Available on all podcast platforms; video version available on my Patreon (/egyptpodcast)

19/07/2026

15min First Impressions video available on Youtube

10/07/2026

The Griffith Institute preserves thousands of documents, plate photographs, and records of Howard Carter's excavation in the tomb of Tutankhamun. But funding cuts are threatening their work to digitise and preserve this archive for future generations. Please consider supporting the Griffith Institute today

Donate at https://tutankhamun.griffith.ox.ac.uk/support-us
Explore the Tutankhamun Spatial Archive at https://tutankhamun.griffith.ox.ac.uk/

07/07/2026

What does "Drinking with Khonsu" mean? One of the more famous records from Deir el-Medina is the "Absentee List" (British Museum EA 5634). It records absence from the workforce in Year 40-41 of Ramesses II (c.1253 BCE), and the reasons for not showing up. On day 14 in the first month of Akhet (flood season, around August), the worker Pendua was absent for "drinking with Khonsu."

This isn't a euphemism.

Khonsu was another member of the team. On the same day, he was absent to have "his festival," referencing a private feast day. Such festivals are common in the records, and tend to mark personal anniversaries, the birth of children, and holy days. Khonsu was also absent several days for "illness," for religious rites ("with his god,") and "preparing remedies" with the team's physician.

Sources:
Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions, III, 522-523:10 (Translations III, 361-368).
Davies, A Handbook to Deir el-Medina, 4-9.
Janssen, Absence from work by the necropolis workmen of Thebes. Studien Zur Altägyptischen Kultur, 8 (198), 127--152. Available on JSTOR.

30/06/2026

Was Pharaoh Literally a God? Listener Questions 1 (Extended)

Bonus episode. I took some listener questions in a livestream, and here they are. We cover topics like: Was pharaoh literally a god? How common was tattooing? Was there an ancient canal between the Nile and Red Sea? What are my recommended Egyptology books? And much more...

There is a (shorter) video version available at https://www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast/posts/qna-ask-me-june-162481450

If you would like to submit a question for a future QnA, drop it in the comments!

Questions
Top 3 Egyptology books: 00:55

Royal family tombs (like KV5): 06:50

Tattooing? 09:55

Was the pharaoh literally a god? 13:21

Linen - who made it and how? 18:50

What is the biggest misconception people have about ancient Egypt? 20:44

Perfumes: What do we know about them? 23:58

How long do you need at the GEM? 27:01

Best book about gods/mythology? 29:38

How do you pronounce Ra (or Re?) 30:56

What happened to Mortuary Temples after their owner died? 31:46

What role did dwarfs / little people play in ancient Egyptian society? 34:01

What role did foreigners play? Could they reach high status? 35:14

Could Beketaten be the mother of Tutankhamun? 39:05

Did Canaanite religion influence Egypt more, or vice versa? 39:52

Did Egyptian solar religion influence the Roman cult of Sol Invictus? 42:34

Gods and Goddesses: how prominent are the LOCAL deities in different regions? 44:20

When was the "Canal of the Pharaohs" connecting the Nile and Red Sea? 47:34

What are the most common biases in Egyptology? 49:01

Oxford Encyclopedia
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt on Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/oxfordencyclopediaofancientegyptvolume1 (Vols 2 and 3 links at bottom of page)

Tattoos
Booth, C. (2001). Possible tattooing instruments in the Petrie Museum. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 87, 172--175.http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/3822379.pdf

Fletcher, J. (2005). The decorated body in ancient Egypt: Hairstyles, cosmetics and tattoos. In L. Cleland, M. Harlow, & L. Llewellyn-Jones (Eds.), The clothed body in the ancient world (pp. 3--13). Oxbow.

Also, researcher Anne Austin has done some work on tattooing in ancient Egypt, and has uploaded some of it to YouTube (link) and her website: http://www.anneeaustin.com/tattooing-in-ancient-egypt/

Perfumes
I recommend the work of Dora Goldsmith: Academia.edu and Instagram

Bonus episode. I took some listener questions in a livestream, and ...

26/06/2026

Some very important friends I have met on my travels to Egypt at: Dendera, Philae, and a resthouse on the road to Abu Simbel.

If you like Egyptian cats, there's a Flash Sale on our Dashery store (by Tee Public). Big discounts on all our designs including Ancient Egyptian Cat and many more🐈‍⬛🐕 https://egyptpodcast.dashery.com/

14/04/2026

Did you know Egypt once had a Hittite Queen? One of Ramesses II's later wives was a princess of Hatti. This lady came to Egypt shortly after the pharaoh's second Sed-Festival, and later bore him a daughter.

We don't know her birth name or life before departing Hatti, but her parents - King Hattusili III and Queen Puduhepa - spent many months negotiating with Ramesses over the marriage. Hattusili promised a large dowry, while Puduhepa insisted that her daughter go to Egypt "to rule," rather than merely be a consort.

Upon her arrival in Egypt, the anonymous girl was announced as the King's-Great-Wife, Maat-Hor-Neferura ("She Who Sees Horus-the-Perfection-of-Ra").

Ramesses celebrated the union in monumental texts, known today as the "Marriage Stela." There were several copies of this, but the best preserved is at Abu Simbel. Just next to the King's colossal statues, you can find the record of the wedding and images of the princess/queen and her father, Hattusili himself. Notably, Ramesses never calls Hattusili "King," but merely "Great One/Chief of Hatti." A classic bit of pharaonic chauvinism towards the outsiders.

The tale of Maat-Hor-Neferura, and the fascinating letters that record this event, are covered in the newest episode of The History of Egypt Podcast ( #231).

Sources:
- Brand, P. J. (2023). Ramesses II: Egypt’s Ultimate Pharaoh. Lockwood Press.
- Bryce, T. (2003). Letters of the Great Kings of the Ancient Near East: The Royal Correspondence of the - Late Bronze Age. Routledge.
- Fisher, M. M. (2013). A Diplomatic Marriage in the Ramesside Period: Maathorneferure, Daughter of the Great Ruler of Hatti. In B. J. Collins & P. Michalowski (Eds.), Beyond Hatti: A Tribute to Gary Beckman (pp. 75--119). Lockwood Press.

02/04/2026

Meet Petamenope, the Ancient Egyptian Antiquarian ft.
My one pick of a gem in GEM would be amidst all the other late period sculpture in gallery ten. The standing statue of a man called Petamenope who was the chief lector priest in the seventh century BCE. It comes from the Karnak cachette and it shows him with his hands flat on his kilt. A very unusual, position for the seventh century BCE. And the hieroglyphic text on the front says the statue was given as a gift, as hesut of the king, a throwback to people like Senenmut, Amenhotep son of Habu and Middle Kingdom guys. So it's an illustration perhaps pf Petamenope who is buried in the massive TT33, on the West Bank at Luxor, that he was something of an antiquarian in ancient Egypt.