The dramatic story behind the 3,200-year-old colossal Grand Egyptian Museum Ramesses statue King Ramesses II ruled Egypt for an extraordinary sixty-six years (1279–1213 BC) during the Nineteenth Dynasty. A great warrior and lavish builder, he fathered dozens of children and is widely regarded as the most celebrated and powerful pharaoh of the New Kingdom. This wonderfully clear, engaging book recounts the dramatic history of the famed red granite colossal statue of Ramesses II now residing in Egypt’s Grand Egyptian Museum. One of the biggest statues ever made and part of the urban landscape of modern Cairo, the statue lent its name to Ramses Square and the city's mainline train station, and was so much a symbol of Cairo that it featured in countless Egyptian films. Susanna Thomas recounts the full history of the statue’s creation and installation in the Great Temple of Ptah at Memphis during the reign of Ramesses II, its reuse by Ramesses IV, and the later history of the statue during the Greco-Roman and Islamic Periods. The book also provides an overview of how statues were made in ancient Egypt and includes a brief discussion of the statue cults of Ramesses II, kingship, temples, and the expansion of the New Kingdom capital city of Memphis and its temples. The final section covers the history of the statue since its rediscovery and subsequent rescue in the mid-nineteenth century until its installation in the entrance hall of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza. Written by a New Kingdom specialist and curatorial expert and illustrated with over 150 images, Ramesses, Beloved by Ptah tells the fascinating story of this magnificent statue within the wider context of statue cults and the reign of Ramesses II, and its subsequent rescue and restoration in modern times.

The dramatic story behind the 3,200-year-old colossal Grand Egyptian Museum Ramesses statue King Ramesses II ruled Egypt for an extraordinary sixty-six years (1279-1213 BC) during the Nineteenth Dynasty. A great warrior and lavish builder, he fathered dozens of children and is widely regarded as the most celebrated and powerful pharaoh of the New Kingdom. This wonderfully clear, engaging book recounts the dramatic history of the famed red granite colossal statue of Ramesses II now residing in Egypt's Grand Egyptian Museum. One of the biggest statues ever made and part of the urban landscape of modern Cairo, the statue lent its name to Ramses Square and the city's mainline train station, and was so much a symbol of Cairo that it featured in countless Egyptian films. Susanna Thomas recounts the full history of the statue's creation and installation in the Great Temple of Ptah at Memphis during the reign of Ramesses II, its reuse by Ramesses IV, and the later history of the statue during the Greco-Roman and Islamic Periods. The book also provides an overview of how statues were made in ancient Egypt and includes a brief discussion of the statue cults of Ramesses II, kingship, temples, and the expansion of the New Kingdom capital city of Memphis and its temples. The final section covers the history of the statue since its rediscovery and subsequent rescue in the mid-nineteenth century until its installation in the entrance hall of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza. Written by a New Kingdom specialist and curatorial expert and illustrated with over 150 images, Ramesses, Beloved by Ptah tells the fascinating story of this magnificent statue within the wider context of statue cults and the reign of Ramesses II, and its subsequent rescue and restoration in modern times.

The royal necropolis of New Kingdom Egypt, known as the Valley of the Kings (KV), is one of the most important--and celebrated--archaeological sites in the world. Located on the west bank of the Nile river, about three miles west of modern Luxor, the valley is home to more than sixty tombs, all dating to the second millennium BCE. The most famous of these is the tomb of Tutankhamun, first discovered by Howard Carter in 1922. Other famous pharaoh's interred here include Hatshepsut, the only queen found in the valley, and Ramesses II, ancient Egypt's greatest ruler. Much has transpired in the study and exploration of the Valley of the Kings over the last few years. Several major discoveries have been made, notably the many-chambered KV5 (tomb of the sons of Ramesses II) and KV 63, a previously unknown tomb found in the heart of the valley. Many areas of the royal valley have been explored for the first time using new technologies, revealing ancient huts, shrines, and stelae. New studies of the DNA, filiation, cranio-facial reconstructions, and other aspects of the royal mummies have produced important and sometimes controversial results. The Oxford Handbook of the Valley of the Kings provides an up-to-date and thorough reference designed to fill a very real gap in the literature of Egyptology. It will be an invaluable resource for scholars, teachers, and researchers with an interest in this key area of Egyptian archaeology. First, introductory chapters locate the Valley of the Kings in space and time. Subsequent chapters offer focused examinations of individual tombs: their construction, content, development, and significance. Finally, the book discusses the current status of ongoing issues of preservation and archaeology, such as conservation, tourism, and site management. In addition to recent work mentioned above, aerial imaging, remote sensing, studies of the tombs' architectural and decorative symbolism, problems of conservation management, and studies of KV-related temples are just some of the aspects not covered in any other work on the Valley of the Kings. This volume promises to become the primary scholarly reference work on this important World Heritage Site.

100 biographies reveal the true character and diversity of the ancient world's greatest civilization The biographies included here give voice not only to ancient Egypt's rulers but also to the people who built the great monuments, staffed government offices, farmed, served in the temples, and fought to defend the country's borders. Spanning thousands of years of ancient Egyptian history, the book offers a fresh perspective on an always fascinating civilization through the lives of: The god-kings, from great rulers like Khufu and Ramesses II to less famous monarchs such as Amenemhat I and Osorkon Egypt's queens: the powerful Tiye, the beautiful Nefertiti, Tutankhamun's tragic child-bride Ankhesenamun, and the infamous Cleopatra The officials who served the pharaoh: the architect Imhotep who designed the first pyramid, the court dwarf Perniankhu, and the royal sculptor Bak Ordinary women who are often overlooked in official accounts: Hemira, a humble priestess from a provincial Delta town, and Naunakht, whose will reveals the trials and tribulations of family life Commoners and foreigners such as the irascible farmer Hekanakht, the serial criminal Paneb, and Urhiya, the mercenary who rose to the rank of general in the Egyptian army. Profusely illustrated with works of art and scenes of daily life, Lives of the Ancient Egyptians offers remarkable insights into the history and culture of the Nile Valley and very personal glimpses of a vanished world.

Of all the enormous monuments throughout Egypt and Nubia that Ramesses II (the Great; ca. 1279-1212 BCE) left behind, his temple at Abydos, built early in his reign, stands as one of his most elegant, with its simple architectural layout and dramatic and graceful painted relief scenes. Though best known for its dramatic reliefs depicting the battle of Kadesh, the temple also offers a wealth of information about religious and social life in ancient Egypt. It reflects, for example, the strenuous efforts of the early Ramessides to reestablish the Osiris cult in Egypt-and particularly at Abydos-in the aftermath of the Amarna period. Building on the comprehensive photographic and epigraphic documentation of the temple presented in The Temple of Ramesses II at Abydos volumes 1 (Wall Scenes) and 2 (Pillars, Niches, and Miscellanea), volume 3 (Architectural and Inscriptional Features) offers a detailed analysis of the overall architectural layout and decorative program of the temple and its symbolism. This discussion approaches the religious history of the site through its archaeology, its inscriptions-both planned and secondary (graffiti)-and its situation in the complex religious landscape of Abydos. Of particular interest are the temple's role as a staging point for the great Osiris Festival and its procession, among the most important of all ritual events in the Egyptian religious calendar during the Ramesside period; the promotion of an active, unbound form of Osiris; and the evidence for important cult activities that took place on the rooftop of the temple, the presence of which is documented today by the staircase that accessed it from Court B.