During his long tenure Egypt was beset by foreign invaders including the so-called Sea Peoples and Egypt experienced the beginnings of the increasing economic difficulties and internal strife that would eventually lead to the collapse of the Twentieth Dynasty.

The severity of these difficulties is witnessed by the fact that the first labor strike in recorded history occurred during Ramesses' reign. When the food rations upon which the favoured royal tomb-builders in the village of Set Maat her imenty Waset (now known as Deir el Medina) depended for their survival could not be provisioned, they artisans walked out on the job and went in protest to the government.

These realities are completely ignored by the images of continuity and stability presented in Ramesses' official monuments – most of which seek to emulate his more famous predecessor, Ramesses II. He built important additions to the temples at Luxor and Karnak, and his funerary temple and administrative complex at Medinet-Habu is amongst the largest and best preserved in Egypt – however the uncertainty of Ramesses' times is apparent from the massive fortifications which were built to enclose the latter. No Egyptian temple in the heart of Egypt prior to Ramesses' reign had ever needed to be protected in such a manner.

Thanks to the recent discovery of papyrus trial transcripts, Ramesses III is now known to have been assassinated as a result of a harem conspiracy. The conspiracy was instigated by one of his two principal wives who was motivated by the desire to secure the throne for her son.

The mummy of Ramesses III was discovered by antiquarians in 1886. His tomb (KV11) is one of the largest in the Valley of the Kings.

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