The History of Egypt Podcast

Compilation of previously released mini episodes (2015-2018). New Kingdom poems are a delightful genre, full of playful and evocative imagery. In this compilation we explore some love poems told from male & female perspectives, and the story of a scribe desperate for a holiday in the big city...

Guest voice: Anya Banerjee.

Bibliography

Foster, J. L. (1992). Echoes of Egyptian Voices: An Anthology of Ancient Egyptian Poetry. University of Oklahoma Press.

Foster, J. L. (1995). Hymns, Prayers, and Songs: An Anthology of Ancient Egyptian Lyric Poetry (S. T. Hollis, Ed.). Scholars Press.

Kitchen, K. A. (1999). Poetry of ancient Egypt. Paul Åströms Förlag.

Landgráfová, R., & Navrátilová, H. (2009). Sex and the Golden Goddess I: Ancient Egyptian Love Songs in Context. Czech Institute of Egyptology.

Parkinson, R. B. (1997). The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems (1940—1640 BC). Oxford University Press.

Simpson, W. K. (2003). The Literature of Ancient Egypt: An Anthology of Stories, Instructions, Stelae, Autobiographies, and Poetry (3rd ed.). Yale University Press.

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In 2025 I did an interview with the AskHistorians podcast, a reddit-based show where specialists discuss history and major questions about their fields.

In this interview, we discuss the history of Egyptology, stories from ancient Egypt, the situation of the field today, and why Hollywood can't seem to make any stories about Egypt that don't involve Cleopatra.

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Siptah, Tausret, Setnakht. Between 1205--1202 BCE, the royal house of Ramesses II crumbled into illegitimacy. After Siptah, the queen Tausret declared herself pharaoh. Her reign leaves tantalising traces. But shortly after, a man named Set-Nakht ("Seth is Victorious") seized the throne and inaugurated the 20th Dynasty. Subsequently, he and his successors declared the late 19th Dynasty a period of "empty years," lacking legitimacy, with no true ruler.

What went wrong?

Logo image: The "charioteer ostracon," depicting a female ruler charging against a male, both firing arrows (Daressy 1909).
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Siptah & Chancellor Bay. The last years of Dynasty 19 are murky, with hints of disorder and violence. At the centre of affairs, the courtier Bay directed policy and controlled access to King Siptah. Pharaoh himself was sickly, possibly disabled. The power-shift culminated in a rather dramatic break...

Music: Keith Zizza and Luke Chaos.

Logo image: Siptah, from his tomb KV47 (Davis 1908).

Bibliography

Bierbrier, M. (2011). Bye-Bye Bay. In M. Collier & S. Snape (Eds.), Ramesside studies in honour of K. A. Kitchen (pp. 19–21). Rutherford.

Černý, J. (1966). A note on the chancellor Bay. Zeitschrift Für Ägyptische Sprache Und Altertumskunde, 93, 35--39.

Cooney, K. M. (2022). The New Kingdom of Egypt Under the Ramesside Dynasty. In D. T. Potts, N. Moeller, & K. Radner (Eds.), The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East, Volume III: From the Hyksos to the Late Second Millennium BC (pp. 251--366). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190687601.003.0027

Dodson, A. (2011). Fade to grey: The chancellor Bay, Éminence Grise of the late Nineteenth Dynasty. In M. Collier & S. Snape (Eds.), Ramesside Studies in Honour of K. A. Kitchen (pp. 145--158). Rutherford.

Dodson, A. (2016). Poisoned Legacy: The Decline and Fall of the Nineteenth Egyptian Dynasty (Revised edn). American University in Cairo Press.

Dodson, A. (2025). Siptah’s leg and other stories. In A. F. Morris & H. Vogel (Eds.), Disability in ancient Egypt and Egyptology: All our yesterdays (pp. 214--220). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003440369-17

Drenkhahn, R. (1980). Die Elephantine-Stele des Sethnacht und ihr historischer Hintergrund. Harrassowitz.

Galassi, F. M., Habicht, M. E., & Rühli, F. J. (2017). Poliomyelitis in ancient Egypt? Neurological Sciences, 38, 375. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-016-2720-9

Goedicke, H. (1979). “Irsu, The Kharu” in Papyrus Harris. Wiener Zeitschrift Für Die Kunde Des Morgenlandes, 71, 1--17. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23858901

Grandet, P. (2000). L’execution du chancelier Bay: O.IFAO 1864. Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, 100, 339--345. https://www.ifao.egnet.net/bifao/100/14/

Habicht, M. E., Varotto, E., Galassi, F. M., & Pate, F. D. (2022). The elusive disease of pharaoh Siptah (19th dynasty, ca. 1200 BC): Old problems and future perspectives. Neurological Sciences, 43, 747–748. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-021-05649-6

Johnson, K. (2012). Transition and Legitimation in Egypt’s Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties: A Study of the Reigns of Siptah, Tausret, and Sethnakht [Unpublished PhD. Thesis, University of Memphis]. https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/etd/498

Johnson, K. L., & Brand, P. (2013). Prince Seti-Merenptah, Chancellor Bay, and the Bark Shrine of Seti II at Karnak. Journal of Egyptian History, 6, 19--45. https://doi.org/10.1163/18741665-12340001

Kahn, D. (2010). Who is meddling in Egypt’s affairs? The identity of the Asiatics in the Elephantine Stele of Sethnakhte and the historicity of the Medinet Habu Asiatic war reliefs. Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, 2(1), 14--23. http://jaei.library.arizona.edu

Leprohon, R. J. (2013). The Great Name: Ancient Egyptian Royal Titulary. Society of Biblical Literature.

Lesko, L. H. (1966). A little more evidence for the end of the Nineteenth Dynasty. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, 5, 29–32. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40000169

Safronov, A. (2013). New titles of the Great Chancellor Bay. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 99, 290--295. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24644942

Schneider, T. (2003). Siptah und Beja: Neubeurteilung einer historischen Konstellation. Zeitschrift Für Ägyptische Sprache Und Altertumskunde, 130, 134--146.

Servajean, F. (2014). Mérenptah et la fin de la XIXe dynastie. Pygmalion.
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Tausret, Siptah, Bay, and the case of Paneb. By 1210 BCE, the southern rebellion was dying down, but trouble was far from over. The courtier Bay appears on the scene, first as an agent of Sety II, then as a "kingmaker" in his own right. Tausret increases her power, becoming a regent figure (like Hatshepsut). The young ruler Siptah, physically enfeebled and of uncertain heritage, provides a veil of legitimacy for a new triumvirate.

Meanwhile, in Deir el-Medina, the foremen/chiefs Hay and Paneb deal with serious allegations... [WARNING: Starting at 23:01, episode contains content that may not be suitable for all listeners]

Logo image: Winged Ma'at in KV47, tomb of Siptah, by E. Harold Jones 1910 (MMA).

Bibliography

Aldred, C. (1963a). The Parentage of King Siptaḥ. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 49, 41–48. https://doi.org/10.2307/3855698

Aldred, C. (1963b). Valley Tomb No. 56 at Thebes. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 49, 176–178. https://doi.org/10.2307/3855714

Altenmüller, H. (1989). Untersuchungen zum Grab des Bai (KV13) im Tal der Könige von Theben. Göttinger Miszellen, 107, 43--54.

Bartos, F. (2023). The Official Titles wb3 nswt ‘royal wb3’ and wdpw nswt ‘royal wdpw’ and the Function of their Holders in the New Kingdom.

Beckerath, J. von. (1962). Queen Twosre as guardian of Siptaḥ. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 48, 70--74.

Bierbrier, M. L. (2000). Paneb Rehabilitated? In R. J. Demarée & A. Egberts (Eds.), Deir el-Medina in the Third Millennium AD: A Tribute to Jac. J. Janssen (pp. 51--54).

Černý, J. (1966). A note on the chancellor Bay. Zeitschrift Für Ägyptische Sprache Und Altertumskunde, 93, 35--39.

Cooney, K. M. (2022). The New Kingdom of Egypt Under the Ramesside Dynasty. In D. T. Potts, N. Moeller, & K. Radner (Eds.), The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East, Volume III: From the Hyksos to the Late Second Millennium BC (pp. 251--366). https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190687601.003.0027

Davies, B. G. (1997). Egyptian Historical Inscriptions of the Nineteenth Dynasty.

Davis, T. M. (1908). The Tomb of Siphtah: The Monkey Tomb and the Gold Tomb. https://ia904605.us.archive.org/22/items/tombofsiphtahmon04davi/tombofsiphtahmon04davi.pdf

Dodson, A. (2011). Fade to grey: The chancellor Bay, Éminence Grise of the late Nineteenth Dynasty. In M. Collier & S. Snape (Eds.), Ramesside Studies in Honour of K. A. Kitchen (pp. 145--158).

Dodson, A. (2016). Poisoned Legacy: The Decline and Fall of the Nineteenth Egyptian Dynasty (Revised edn).

Dodson, A. (2025). Siptah’s leg and other stories. In A. F. Morris & H. Vogel (Eds.), Disability in ancient Egypt and Egyptology: All our yesterdays (pp. 214--220). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003440369-17

Gardiner, A. (1958). Only One King Siptaḥ and Twosre Not His Wife. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 44, 12–22. https://doi.org/10.2307/3855059

Gardiner, A. H. (1912). The Stele of Bilgai. Zeitschrift Für Ägyptische Sprache Und Altertumskunde, 50, 49--57.

Johnson, K. (2012). Transition and Legitimation in Egypt’s Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties: A Study of the Reigns of Siptah, Tausret, and Sethnakht [Unpublished PhD. Thesis, University of Memphis]. https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/etd/498

Johnson, K. L., & Brand, P. (2013). Prince Seti-Merenptah, Chancellor Bay, and the Bark Shrine of Seti II at Karnak. Journal
of Egyptian History, 6, 19--45. https://doi.org/10.1163/18741665-12340001

Safronov, A. (2013). New titles of the Great Chancellor Bay. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 99, 290--295. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24644942

Schneider, T. (2003). Siptah und Beja: Neubeurteilung einer historischen Konstellation. Zeitschrift Für Ägyptische Sprache Und
Altertumskunde, 130, 134--146.

Servajean, F. (2014). Mérenptah et la fin de la XIXe dynastie.

Wilkinson, R. H. (Ed.). (2012). Tausret: Forgotten Queen and Pharaoh of Egypt.
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