Ramesses III (1186-1155BCE)

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Ramesses III (1186-1155BCE), the greatest pharaoh of the 20th dynasty, the last great pharaoh of the New Kingdom

1. Basic Profile
Ramses III was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 20th Dynasty, reigning approximately 1187–1157 BCE, dying in Thebes.
He was the son of Setnakht, the founder of the 20th Dynasty.
He was succeeded by his crown son Ramses IV after ruling for 32 years.
2. Major Military Achievements
He defended Egypt successfully in three major wars against foreign invaders and maintained peace for most of his reign.
In his 5th regnal year, he defeated a coalition of Libyan tribes that invaded the western Nile Delta and encroached on Egyptian territory.
He repelled the Sea Peoples, a migrating alliance from Asia Minor and Mediterranean islands, who had destroyed the Hittite Empire and ravaged Syria. Egypt stopped their land and sea attack, yet lost its hegemony over Syria-Palestine.
In his 11th regnal year, he defeated another Libyan invasion, captured their chief and ended the border threat.
3. Constructions & Economic Development
He built the grand funerary temple, palace and town complex at Madīnat Habu in western Thebes, and made additions to the Karnak temple complex.
He promoted trade and industry: sent maritime trading expeditions to Punt, exploited copper mines in Sinai and gold mines in Nubia.
4. Late Reign Crises
In his later years, Egypt suffered administrative corruption and internal unrest.
The vizier of Lower Egypt was dismissed for corruption; royal tomb workers in Thebes staged a strike over delayed monthly rations.
A secondary queen plotted a coup to assassinate him in order to put her own son on the throne. The conspiracy was judged and punished, but his real death cause remained a mystery for a long time.
5. Death & Archaeological Confirmation
His mummy showed no obvious external wounds, leaving his fate in speculation for centuries.
In 2012, a CT scan revealed a deep knife wound in his throat, proving Ramses III was murdered in the assassination plot.

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After his assassination Egypt began to decline, which is known as “the Bronze Age Clapse” and the Transition to the Iron Age

The Bronze Age Collapse (Late Bronze Age Collapse) is a modern scholarly term describing the sharp decline and fall of major Mediterranean civilizations during the 13th–12th centuries BCE, roughly between c. 1250 – c. 1150 BCE. This period saw widespread city destruction, collapsed civilizations, severed diplomatic and trade ties, lost writing systems, and unprecedented devastation and death. Scholars have debated its exact causes, start, and end dates for over a century with no consensus. After the collapse, the Mediterranean entered a “Dark Age” in which iron replaced bronze as the dominant metal, and culture, architecture, and quality of life declined sharply, giving way to the Iron Age (c. 1200–550 BCE).

Overview of the Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is named for the widespread use of bronze metallurgy and marked comprehensive civilization development across the Mediterranean in culture, language, technology, religion, art, architecture, politics, warfare, and trade. Iconic achievements include the Giza Pyramids and Karnak Temple in Egypt; the invention of writing and the wheel in Mesopotamia; the foundation of the Akkadian Empire; the rise of the Hittite Empire in Anatolia; prosperous Phoenician city-states such as Ugarit in the Levant; and the height of Mycenaean civilization in Greece. By c. 1350 BCE, Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt, the Hittite Empire, and Mittani formed a tightly interconnected diplomatic and trade network known as the “Club of Great Powers”, documented in the Amarna Letters.

Causes of the Collapse: A “Perfect Storm of Calamities”
Earlier scholars proposed a linear chain of causes, but modern research agrees multiple crises struck in rapid or near-simultaneous succession, overwhelming civilizations that had previously survived individual disasters. The main factors are:
1.Natural Catastrophes: Frequent earthquakes, possibly “earthquake storms,” destroyed dozens of sites. The Sphinx Gate, Alacahöyük (Hittite settlement) stands as a key Hittite site affected by such destruction.
2.Climate Change: A severe, unprecedented drought affected the region. Evidence from Soreq Cave in Israel shows sustained rainfall decline leading to crop failure, famine, and mass migration.
3.Internal Rebellions: Food shortages and inequality fueled uprisings, including the first recorded labor strike during the reign of Ramesses III in Egypt and internal revolt at the Canaanite city of Hazor.
4.Invasions: Migratory attacks by the Sea Peoples (including the Sherden, Sheklesh, Lukka, Tursha, Akawasha, and Peleset) devastated coastal and inland societies. Ramesses III defeated them in 1178 BCE.
5.Trade and Systemic Collapse: The interconnected “Club of Great Powers” was highly vulnerable. Piracy, warfare, and political instability broke trade networks, triggering economic failure and social breakdown. Amarna Letter Tablet from Tushratta is a critical artifact documenting these ancient diplomatic and economic relations.

Aftermath and Modern Relevance
The Hittite Empire, Ugarit, and Mycenaean civilization collapsed; Levantine and Cypriot cultures declined sharply; only Egypt survived in greatly weakened form. The postcollapse “Dark Age” was less stagnant than once thought: the Phoenician alphabet replaced lost scripts, and bronze craftsmanship persisted.
The collapse offers a powerful parallel to today’s globalized world: deeply interconnected by trade and diplomacy, with risks of cascading system failure. Climate change — unprecedented in the Late Bronze Age — is seen as a critical tipping point threat to modern global stability.

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Then in the 21st dynasty, Egypt went into the 3rd intermediate period and Egypt split again. The lower Egypt was ruled by the 21st dynasty of Egypt, while the Upper Egypt was ruled by High Priest of Amun.


The Third Intermediate Period of Egypt (c. 1069–525 BCE) is a critical stage after the New Kingdom and before the Late Period. This division was created by late 19th-century Egyptologists, not by ancient Egyptians. Unlike the First and Second Intermediate Periods, the Third Intermediate Period was not a chaotic dark age; it maintained cultural continuity and social stability without a unified central government, yet Egypt never saw another golden age and declined long-term, finally conquered by Persia in 525 BCE and lost independence.

Its most defining feature was dual rule between two centers: Tanis in the north was the secular center ruling Lower Egypt pragmatically; Thebes in the south was the Amun theocracy where High Priests of Amun held real power and divine oracles became the basis of governance, with Amun regarded as the true king of Thebes. The Tanis royal family and Theban priesthood were closely related, mutually legitimate, and cooperative, and the powerful position of God’s Wife of Amun was held by daughters of both families as a symbol of shared power.

Dynastically, the 21st Dynasty was founded by Smendes at Tanis, ruled mostly by Libyans, and coexisted stably with Thebes; the 22nd Dynasty was established by the Libyan ruler Shoshenq I, who reunified Egypt, launched military campaigns, reformed the priesthood, and put appointments of priests and God’s Wife under royal control, briefly reviving New Kingdom–style strength. By the 23rd Dynasty, Egypt fell into full fragmentation with local kings ruling independently and no unified defense. The 24th and 25th Dynasties brought unification under Nubian rule, but Egypt was weakened and invaded by the Assyrian Empire; though Assyrians were expelled, Egypt could not resist further foreign attacks.

Culturally and religiously, traditional funerary rituals continued, bronze, faience, gold, and silver crafts flourished with fine innovation; large building projects were rare but mammisi (birth houses) emerged. The ideology of pharaoh as son of god was strengthened, the Osiris–Isis–Horus triad was widely worshiped, and the Cult of Isis spread widely and later influenced early Christianity, while Amun worship at Thebes remained central.

Older scholarship once viewed this era as the end of Egyptian history and a dark age of collapse, but modern research revises this: the period was stable, tolerant, and culturally vibrant, Libyan rulers integrated into Egyptian culture, and local governance was effective. Only long-term division and lack of unified power led to decline, making it the key phase in the fall of ancient Egyptian civilization.

resources
Mark, Joshua J.. "Bronze Age Collapse." World History Encyclopedia, 20 Sep 2019, https://www.worldhistory.org/Bronze_Age_Collapse/.
Mark, Joshua J.. "Third Intermediate Period of Egypt." World History Encyclopedia, 11 Oct 2016, https://www.worldhistory.org/Third_Intermediate_Period_of_Egypt/.
Britannica Editors. "Ramses III". Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Apr. 2026, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ramses-Ill. Accessed 24 April 2026.