Members-Only Lecture: All the King’s Wives: Ramesses II’s Royal Women by Peter Brand

Lecture Information

This lecture examines the phenomenon of New Kingdom royal polygamy in the case of Ramesses II’s wives. At least eleven women can be identified as wives of this king, including five of his own daughters and two Hittite princesses. Among his earliest wives, Nefertari and Isetnofret stand out as being the favored and prominent, having given birth to his two eldest sons Amenhirkhopeshef and Ramesses “Junior”. Along with their sons and daughters, Nefertari and Isetnofret stood at the top of a hierarchy among Ramesses II’s wives and children, with Nefertari eclipsing the rest.

The kings’ Abydos Dedicatory Inscription indicates that Ramesses married several women while he was crown prince under Sety I and began producing children by them. Eventually, he sired at least 48 sons and 53 daughters. By reconstructing Ramesses’ family and comparing it to the patterns of royal polygamy in other historic cultures, we can gain insights into the political and social dynamics of Ramesses II huge family and its ideological role in his conception of kingship.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Peter Brand is a professor of Ancient History in the Department of History at Memphis University. Since 2001 Dr. Brand has served as the Director of the Karnak Great Hypostyle Hall Project sponsored by the University of Memphis, which aims to record and publish all the monumental inscriptions and reliefs from this huge building.

His University of Toronto dissertation in 1998, The Monuments of Seti I: Epigraphic, Historical and Art Historical Analysis was published by Brill in 2000. It is considered to be one of the most comprehensive studies of the reign of Seti I, who is often eclipsed in history by the 66-year reign of his son, Ramses II. In 2018 he published a two-volume set of translations, commentary & photographs of all the wall scenes inside the Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak, published by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.

His fourth book, Ramesses II: Egypt’s Ultimate Pharaoh, Lockwood Press 2023, is a comprehensive and well-illustrated account of this legendary pharaoh. The book tells the story of his long life while exploring key themes including his career as a warrior at the pivotal Battle of Kadesh and later his role as a diplomat and statesman who signed his famous peace treaty with the Hittite empire and exchanged dozens of diplomatic, but often testy messages with the Hittite king and queen and married two Hittite princesses. Along the way, the book reveals Ramesses II’s many wives—at least a dozen, including five of his daughters—and the 100+ sons and daughters he fathered by these women. We also See Pharaoh the mighty builder of countless monuments including dozens of colossal statues dedicated to the cult of his worship, his status as a living god, and his immortal legend from antiquity down to today.

Dr. Brand is now researching his fifth book, which will investigate how Egyptian pharaohs used gold to enhance their authority, influence, and prestige. Dr. Brand’s area of focus in Egyptology is the history and culture of the New Kingdom, particularly in the late 18th Dynasty and the Ramesside Period. In his research and teaching he uses a multi-disciplinary approach that integrates history, art history, language and epigraphy. Dr. Brand is also interested in methodological questions, especially pertaining to epigraphic techniques, historical method, and historiography in Egyptology.