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Egyptian Artifacts

Red Granite Statue of Thutmosis III

I’m going to post another British Museum picture 𓏏𓅱𓏏 because I’m nostalgic and I like remembering how amazing that day 𓉔𓂋𓏺𓇳 was!

This red granite π“…“π“Œ³π“π“ŽΆ statue π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ of Thutmosis III 𓅝𓄠𓋴 is definitely an interesting one because it actually has the cartouches of Rameses II π“©π“›π“ˆ˜π“„Ÿπ“‹΄π“‡“ carved into the chest! This is what Egyptologists call usurping – meaning that Rameses II π“©π“›π“ˆ˜π“„Ÿπ“‹΄π“‡“ took statues π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύπ“ͺ and monuments from his predecessors, erased their name π“‚‹π“ˆ–, and put his own!

Egyptologists don’t think this was done out of disrespect for the previous pharaohs 𓉐𓉻𓏦, instead it was just Rameses II π“©π“›π“ˆ˜π“„Ÿπ“‹΄π“‡“ promoting his own rule.

Fun fact! Much like modern geologists, the ancient Egyptians π“†Žπ“π“€€π“π“ͺ differentiated between granite and red granite rocks π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‚‹π“ˆ™π“¦! How do we know?! The hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ are different:

Granite – π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“ˆ™π“ˆ–π“Œ³π“Ώ
Red Granite – π“…“π“Œ³π“π“ŽΆ

I love rocks π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‚‹π“ˆ™π“¦ and geology so much! I actually got interested in geology as a kid because I wanted to know what all of the statues were made out of!