Pebekkamen was one of the primary conspirators in the Harem conspiracy, a plot to overthrow Ramesses III

Ramesses III

Usimare Ramesses III was the second Pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty and is considered to be the last great New Kingdom king to wield any substantial authority over Egypt. He was the son of Setnakhte and Queen Tiy-Merenese. Ramesses III is believed to have reigned from March 1186 to April 1155 BCE...

 of the twentieth dynasty of Egypt

Twentieth dynasty of Egypt

The Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, New Kingdom. This dynasty is considered to be the last one of the New Kingdom of Egypt, and was followed by the Third Intermediate Period....

. Papyrus

Judicial Papyrus of Turin

The Judicial Papyrus of Turin is an ancient Egyptian record of the trials held against conspirators plotting to assassinate Ramesses III in what is referred to as the "Harem Conspiracy"...

 transcripts indicate that prior to his arrest, Pebekkamen had served as chief of the chamber to Ramesses. Of his crimes, the court records state:

He was brought in because of his collusion with Tiy and the women of the harem. He made common cause with them, and began bringing out their words to their mothers and their brothers who were there, saying: "Stir up the people! Incite enemies to hostility against their lord." He was placed before the great nobles of the court of examination; they examined his crimes; they found that he had committed them. His crimes seized him; the nobles who examined him brought his judgment upon him.

The conspiracy, organised primarily by Pebekkamen, intended to depose or assassinate Ramesses III and place Pentawere, son of Ramesses' second wife Tiye

Tiye (20th dynasty)

Tiye was an Ancient Egyptian queen of the twentieth dynasty; a secondary wife of Ramesses III, against whom she instigated a conspiracy.Tiye is known from the Judicial Papyrus of Turin, which recorded that there was a conspiracy against Ramesses, in which several people in high positions in the...

, onto the throne instead of his elder half-brother Ramesses IV

Ramesses IV

Heqamaatre Ramesses IV was the third pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. His name prior to assuming the crown was Amonhirkhopshef...

. Following his trial, Pebekkamen was executed by burning

Execution by burning

Death by burning is death brought about by combustion. As a form of capital punishment, burning has a long history as a method in crimes such as treason, heresy, and witchcraft....

, a method which carried particular stigma as it was believed to prevent the executed from progressing to the afterlife.

In modern popular culture

• Pebekkamen appears as a Great Spy in the turn-based strategy
  Turn-based strategy
  A turn-based strategy game is a strategy game where players take turns when playing...
  
   computer game Civilization IV
  Civilization IV
  Sid Meier's Civilization IV is a turn-based strategy, 4X computer game released in 2005 and developed by lead designer Soren Johnson under the direction of Sid Meier and Meier's studio Firaxis Games. It is the fourth installment of the Civilization series...
  
  .