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Egyptian Artifacts

Rameses II at the Museo Egizio

Todayโ€™s ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ pictures ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ are from Nonnoโ€™s point of view! While I have never been to the Museo Egizio in Torino, my Nonno had been there many times and always spoke so highly of it. He took these photos ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ on one of his trips there. He spoke about this statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ a lot because he thought it was just stunning ๐“„ค. It is one of my dreams to go to the Museo Egizio one day – I just wish Nonno and I could have gone there together ๐“ˆ–๐“Š—. 

Rameses II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“

This granodiorite ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“๐“ŠŒ statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ of Rameses II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ is one of the most majestic pieces in the museumโ€™s collection and one of the most lifelike statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช there is of Rameses II ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“ง๐“‡ณ๐“‰๐“ˆ–. This may just be mine (and Nonnoโ€™s) opinion, but I think it is one of the most majestic of all of the pharaonic statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช (Besides Hatshepsutโ€™s of course)!!! 

Rameses II ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“ง๐“‡ณ๐“‰๐“ˆ– is depicted here wearing the khepresh crown ๐“†ฃ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™๐“‹™ (also known as the blue crown) and he is holding a scepter ๐“‹พ in his hand. On his feet he is wearing sandals ๐“ฟ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“‹ธ๐“ช, but under those sandals ๐“ฟ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“‹ธ๐“ช are nine bows ๐“‰บ๐“๐“Œ”๐“ฆ which represent the enemies ๐“๐“†‘๐“๐“€๐“ช of Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–! 

On either side of Rameses IIโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ legs, there are two ๐“ป smaller figures. On the right side is Queen Nefertari ๐“๐“…‘๐“„ค๐“๐“‡‹๐“ฎ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“ and on the left is Rameses IIโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ and Nefertariโ€™s ๐“๐“…‘๐“„ค๐“๐“‡‹๐“ฎ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“ first ๐“ƒ born son ๐“…ญ Amunherkhepeshef ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ท๐“บ๐“„˜๐“€ผ. 

Amunherkhepeshef ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ท๐“บ๐“„˜๐“€ผ
Queen Nefertari ๐“๐“…‘๐“„ค๐“๐“‡‹๐“ฎ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“

While it may be difficult to see in the photographs, a special symbol appears on both sides of the statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ. This symbol, called the sema-tawy ๐“‹, is a combination of many different symbols all combined into one! Most prominently, it is thought to be representative of the lungs ๐“Šƒ๐“Œด๐“„ฅ๐“…ฑ๐“„บ and the windpipe ๐“„ฅ. The lungs ๐“Šƒ๐“Œด๐“„ฅ๐“…ฑ๐“„บ are a symbol of Upper Egypt ๐“‡“ and the windpipe ๐“„ฅ was a symbol of Lower Egypt ๐“†ค. Due to this, the sema-tawy ๐“‹ is thought to be the symbol of a unified Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–.

The pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป was always referred to as the โ€œLord of the Two Lands ๐“ŽŸ๐“‡ฟ๐“‡ฟโ€ or โ€œKing of Upper and Lower Egypt ๐“†ฅโ€ because Upper ๐“‡“ and Lower ๐“†ค Egypt, although united, were in fact very different from each other. They each had their own natural resources, cultures and local gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน. The lung ๐“Šƒ๐“Œด๐“„ฅ๐“…ฑ๐“„บ and windpipe ๐“„ฅ design ๐“‹ was usually found on objects that belonged to the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป. In this case, it is on the side of one of Rameses II’s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ most beautiful ๐“„ค statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช!

Some Egyptologists think that this statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ looks like Seti I ๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฃ๐“‡Œ๐“Œธ๐“ˆ–, and that Rameses II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ usurped it from his own father ๐“‡‹๐“๐“€€. However, there are no signs of reworking on the cartouche or on the inscription ๐“Ž˜๐“…ฑ๐“Ž– as a whole, so the two ๐“ป pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ probably just resembled each other!ย 

This statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ is dated to the first 30 ๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž† years of the reign ๐“‹พ๐“ˆŽ๐“ of Rameses II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“, because Nefertari ๐“๐“…‘๐“„ค๐“๐“‡‹๐“ฎ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“ died during Year 30 ๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž† of Rameses IIโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ reign ๐“‹พ๐“ˆŽ๐“.