Ramses II, better known as Ramses the Great,
was the son of Pharaoh Seti I and Queen Tuya.
Early on, Ramses was named co-ruler alongside
his father and he accompanied him on military
campaigns in Libya and Nubia. During his
father’s lifetime, construction was begun on a
new capital, named Avaris. Upon Seti’s death in
1290 B.C., Ramses officially assumed the throne
and soon after launched an attack against the
Syrians. Although he was thought to have lived
to the age of ninety-six, during which time he
fathered more than one hundred and fifty
children to some of his over two hundred wives
and concubines, Ramses is best remembered for
his monumental structures. Some scholars say
that the prosperity of a pharaoh’s reign can be
measured by the number of buildings
constructed during their rule. If this is the case,
then Ramses II is certainly one of the most
important figures in Ancient Egyptian history.
Among his many architectural achievements are
the two temples at Abu Simbel, the hypostyle
hall
at Karnak, a mortuary complex at Abydos, the
Colossus of Ramesses at Memphis, a vast tomb
at Thebes, additions to the Temple of Luxor, and
the famous Ramesseum.
While Ramses may be famous for his
monumental structures, this granite sculpture
depicts the pharaoh with an intimacy that is lost
on larger scale representations. This work
depicts a fragmented face of Ramses rendered in
high relief on the left side as well as a portion of
a royal cartouche that has been engraved into
the right tip of the wall panel. He wears the
distinctive tripartite wig featuring a prominent
Uraeus cobra in the centre. From this wig rises a
cylindrical headdress that appears to be the red
crown symbolic of Lower Egypt, although it may
actually be the double crown indicative of the
unified Upper and Lower Egypt. Since the
majority of this crown has broken away, it is
impossible to be certain. His facial features are
masterfully represented with an idealized
delicacy. Most stunning are his eye and ear.
This fragment was likely once part of a larger
decorative scheme that would have adorned the
walls of a temple or palace. Ramses II himself
might have walked through the corridors of this
structure and stopped to admire this gorgeous
portrait as we continue to do today.
Published:
Varia Aegyptiaca 10/1 (1995): The Egyptian
Royal Image in the New Kingdom [catalogue of
an exhibition at the San Antonio Museum of Art,
January 6th-April 9th, 1995), catalogue number
37.
'This portrait of Rameses II, who is often
identified as the pharaoh of The Exodus, depicts
the mighty pharaoh in an unstriated nemes-
headdress, originally worn by priests of the sun
god, and later incorporated into the regalia of
kings. The nemes is fronted by a uraeus, or
sacred cobra, its coils curled into a horizontally-
aligned figure-8 above the king’s forehead. He
wears a composite crown on top of the nemes,
consisting of the Red Crown of Upper Egypt
which is clearly preserved and distinct, above
which are traces of White Crown of Lower Egypt.
He appears to be wearing a ceremonial, false-
beard as well. His features are designed in the
idealizing idiom so characteristic of ancient
Egyptian representations and these are intended
to perpetuate his vigorous health and well-being
forever. These features include the hieroglyphic
eyes with their cosmetic stripe and the plastic, or
sculpturally defined, eye brow.
Rameses the Great is here shown against a back
slab which was anciently inscribed with his name
and titles. There are traces of the cartouche, or
royal ring, preserved in the field above his head
which contains the last sign of the first part and
four signs of the second part of his royal name.
These can be translated, with the missing
portions within parenthesis, as, “[Ra-]mesu
Mery-[Amun],” that is, “Rameses, the one
beloved of the god Amun.”
The back slab suggests that this portrait of
Rameses the Great was part of a group statue in
which Rameses was represented in the company
of one or more gods. We may even suggest that
these figures were standing, as are the majority
of such group compositions in which the figure
of Rameses II is so depicted.'
References:
For related examples see both R. E. Freed,
Rameses the Great. An Exhibition in The City of
Memphis (Memphis1987), p. 57, for a group
statue of Rameses II, inscribed, standing between
Ptah and Sakhmet of Memphis; and J. Vandier,
Manuel d’Archéologie Egyptienne III. La statuaire
égyptienne (Paris 1958), pls. CXXV,3; CXXIX, 1;
and CXXXII, 6.
Kenneth A. Kitchen, Pharaoh Triumphant. The
Life and Times of Ramesses II (Cairo 1982),
pages 70-71, for the connection between
Rameses II and The Exodus.
