Egyptian Decline Under Late Ramessides

After Ramesses III fended off the Sea Peoples, Egypt entered a slow decline. His successors (Ramesses IV through XI) dealt with tomb robberies, worker strikes at Deir el-Medina, corrupt officials, and shrinking borders. The Papyrus Harris and tomb robbery trial records give us receipts on just how messy things got. By the end, the high priests of Amun at Thebes were running Upper Egypt independently. Egypt straight up went from superpower to divided kingdom.