The Statue of Ramesses II is a 3,200-year-old figure of Ramesses II, depicting him standing. It was discovered in 1882 at Mit Rahina near ancient Memphis, Egypt. It is made from red granite and weighs 83 tons.
[Note: A quarried block of granite weighing 400 tons would not result in a statue weighing only 83 tons, so the "83 tons" number is in error or was mistyped and should have had an additional number in front of it, as in: "83 was 383, or 483" originally. Consider: The Colossi of Memnon weighed about 720 tons each and the broken colossal statue at the Ramesseum is estimated to have weighed over 1,000 tons, so you can see the problem. Even huge granite boxes in the Serapeum are estimated to weigh 50-60 tons and they are all hollowed out.]
The statue was found broken in six pieces and earlier attempts at restoration failed. In 1955, Egyptian Prime Minister Gamal Abdel Nasser moved it to the large Bab Al-Hadid Square in Cairo, outside Cairo's main railway station; the square was then renamed Ramses Square. [1] There the statue was restored to its full height of 11 meters and erected on a three-metre pedestal at the edge of a fountain. It was stabilized by iron bars inside the body. [2]
Over time Ramses Square turned out to be an unsuitable location, as the statue was exposed to corrosive pollution and constant vibration from traffic and subways. The Egyptian government decided to relocate it to a more appropriate location in 2006. At a temporary site on the Giza Plateau it underwent restoration before being moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) in Giza in 2018. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
The transportation of the statue from Ramses Square to Giza was a technological challenge that had been in the planning since 2002. A replica had been made and was transported several weeks before the scheduled actual move along the planned route to Giza to test the proposed relocation process. The move took place on August 25, 2006. [8] During its ten-hour transport the statue was wrapped and covered in rubber foam. Two flat-back trucks carried the weight of the statue and its support structures as it travelled in a vertical position. [8] [9]
The move has been criticized for its costs and the concern about pollution in the Giza location. [9]
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest Egyptian pyramid. It served as the tomb of pharaoh Khufu, who ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. Built c. 2600 BC, over a period of about 26 years, the pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only wonder that has remained largely intact. It is the most famous monument of the Giza pyramid complex, which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Memphis and its Necropolis". It is situated at the northeastern end of the line of the three main pyramids at Giza.
Usermaatre Meryamun Ramesses III was the second Pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty in Ancient Egypt. Some scholars date his reign from 26 March 1186 to 15 April 1155 BC, and he is considered the last pharaoh of the New Kingdom to have wielded substantial power.
Zahi Abass Hawass is an Egyptian archaeologist, Egyptologist, and former Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, serving twice. He has worked at archaeological sites in the Nile Delta, the Western Desert and the Upper Nile Valley.
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The Supreme Council of Antiquities was a department of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture from 1994 to 2011. It was the government body responsible for the conservation, protection and regulation of all antiquities and archaeological excavations in Egypt, and was a reorganization of the Egyptian Antiquities Organisation, under Presidential Decree No. 82 of Hosni Mubarak.
The pyramid of Khafre or of Chephren is the middle of the three Ancient Egyptian Pyramids of Giza, the second tallest and second largest of the group. It is the only pyramid out of the three that still has cladding at the top. It is the tomb of the Fourth-Dynasty pharaoh Khafre (Chefren), who ruled c. 2558−2532 BC.
The pyramid of Menkaure is the smallest of the three main pyramids of the Giza pyramid complex, located on the Giza Plateau in the southwestern outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. It is thought to have been built to serve as the tomb of the Fourth Dynasty Pharaoh Menkaure.
Seqenenre Tao ruled over the last of the local kingdoms of the Theban region of Egypt in the Seventeenth Dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period.
The construction of the Egyptian pyramids can be explained with well-established scientific facts, however there are some aspects that are even today considered controversial hypotheses. The construction techniques used seem to have developed over time; later pyramids were not constructed in the same way as earlier ones. It is believed that huge stones were carved from quarries with copper chisels, and these blocks were then dragged and lifted into position. Disagreements chiefly concern the methods used to move and place the stones.
The Grand Egyptian Museum, also known as the Giza Museum, is an archaeological museum under construction in Giza, Egypt, about 2 kilometres from the Giza pyramid complex. The Museum will host over 100,000 artifacts from ancient Egyptian civilization, including the complete Tutankhamun collection, and many pieces will be displayed for the first time. With 81,000 m2 (872,000 sq ft) of floor space, it will be the world's largest archeological museum. It is being built as part of a new master plan for the Giza Plateau, known as "Giza 2030".
The stone quarries of ancient Egypt once produced quality stone for the building of tombs and temples and for decorative monuments such as sarcophagi, stelae, and statues. These quarries are now recognised archaeological sites. Ancient quarry sites in the Nile valley accounted for much of the limestone and sandstone used as building stone for temples, monuments, and pyramids. Eighty percent of the ancient sites are located in the Nile valley; some of them have disappeared under the waters of Lake Nasser and some others were lost due to modern mining activity.
El Matareya is a district in the Eastern Area of Cairo, Egypt. The district is unrelated to the coastal town in the Dakahlia Governorate, that is also named El Matareya. The district holds the ruins of the ancient Egyptian city of Heliopolis, one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt.
Ramesses II, commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was an Egyptian pharaoh. He was the third ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty. Along with Thutmose III of the Eighteenth Dynasty, he is often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh of the New Kingdom, which itself was the most powerful period of ancient Egypt. He is also widely considered one of ancient Egypt's most successful warrior pharaohs, conducting no fewer than 15 military campaigns, all resulting in victories, excluding the Battle of Kadesh, generally considered a stalemate.
Meritites II or Meritites A was a 4th Dynasty princess of ancient Egypt, probably a daughter of King Khufu. She may have been a daughter of Meritites I based on the fact that this queen is mentioned in mastaba G 7650. She married the Director of the Palace, Akhethotep, and she had several children with her husband. Meritites and her husband shared a mastaba G 7650 in Giza.
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The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) is a large museum located in Old Cairo, a district of Cairo, Egypt. Partially opened in 2017, the museum was officially inaugurated on 3 April 2021 by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, with the moving of 22 mummies, including 18 kings and four queens, from the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo, in an event termed the Pharaohs' Golden Parade. The museum displays a collection of 50,000 artifacts, presenting the Egyptian civilization from prehistoric times to the present day.
The colossal statue of Amenhotep III and Tiye is a monolith group statue of Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III of the eighteenth dynasty, his Great Royal Wife Tiye, and three of their daughters. It is the largest known dyad ever carved. The statue originally stood in Medinet Habu, Western Thebes; today it is the centerpiece of the main hall of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
The archaeology of Ancient Egypt is the study of the archaeology of Egypt, stretching from prehistory through three millennia of documented history. Egyptian archaeology is one of the branches of Egyptology.
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