Global InformationConspiracies in ancient Egypt information
In ancient Egypt, there is evidence of conspiracies within the royal palace to put the reigning monarch to death. Texts are generally silent on the subject of struggles for influence, but a few historical sources, either indirect or very eloquent, depict a royal family disunited and agitated by petty grudges. Highly polygamous, Pharaoh had numerous concubines living in the harem buildings. At certain points in history, women driven by ambition and jealousy formed cabals ready to sacrifice the general interest for the particular needs of princes and courtiers in need of recognition. In the most serious cases, these factions manifested themselves by fomenting conspiracies that threatened or even shortened the life of the sovereign – all to the hoped-for benefit of a secondary wife and her eldest son in competition with the more legitimate Great Royal Wife.
During the Old Kingdom, the 6th Dynasty experienced several similar incidents. According to the historian Manetho, Pharaoh Teti was assassinated by his bodyguards. A vast campaign of damnatio memoriae revealed by archaeology seems to confirm this claim. More wary, Pepi I escaped a plot which, as Judge Ouni reports, was fomented by a royal wife. As for Queen Nitocris, according to a legend recounted by Herodotus, she avenged the assassination of her brother Merenre II by drowning the conspirators. During the Middle Kingdom, the plot that ended the life of Amenemhat I is documented in two important literary texts, the Instructions of King Amenemhat to his Son and the Story of Sinuhe. Both clearly show the involvement of the royal entourage, including bodyguards, harem wives and royal sons. All seem to have been deeply resentful of Senusret I, the legitimate heir.
During the New Kingdom, the end of the 18th Dynasty was marked by the murder of Zannanza-Smenkhkare and the possible elimination of Prince Nakhtmin by Horemheb. In the nineteenth dynasty, contrary to what was once thought, Rameses II did not ascend the throne by eliminating a rival elder brother. It is possible, however, that he may have had to fear the actions of general Mehy, a close adviser to his father, Pharaoh Seti I. After Merenptah's death, the Ramesside family was torn apart by a series of conspiracies over the next fifteen years: Amenmes tried to overthrow his half-brother Seti II, the chancellor Bay placed the puppet king Siptah on the throne, and queen Twosret had Bay eliminated before being eliminated herself by the old general Sethnakht, the founder of the 20th dynasty. Restorer of order, Ramses III, after thirty-two years of reign, had his throat slit in a conspiracy born in the mind of Queen Tiye. As the Judicial Papyrus of Turin reveals, some thirty courtiers were involved in the affair, including harem administrators, soldiers, priests and magicians. The conspiracy failed in its main objective, however, and Prince Pentawer was unable to oust Ramesses IV, the designated successor.