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Secondary sourcePainting1917

Figure of Ancient Egyptian, Ramesses II

1917

A 1917 drawing depicting Ramesses II in profile, wearing royal headdress and a scarab pendant necklace, held by the Wellcome Collection.

This 1917 drawing is a later artist's depiction of Ramesses II, imagined from historical sources rather than direct observation.

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Black-and-white drawing in profile of an elderly Egyptian man wearing a tall, patterned royal headdress with a cobra emblem and a pleated collar necklace with a scarab pendant. Signed WLM 1917 at lower right.
Figure of Ancient Egyptian, Ramesses II. 1917. Wellcome Collection.

About this source

What it is

This is a black-and-white drawing showing an elderly Egyptian man identified as Ramesses II, shown in profile wearing a tall patterned royal headdress with a cobra emblem and a pleated collar necklace with a scarab pendant. It is signed and dated 1917, and is held by the Wellcome Collection.

Why it matters

This image was created long after Ramesses II's lifetime, as a modern artist's interpretation of how the pharaoh may have looked. It reflects how later generations imagined and reconstructed ancient Egyptian rulers based on surviving statues and inscriptions.

Look closer

  • Since this drawing was made in 1917, thousands of years after Ramesses II lived, what sources might the artist have used?
  • What symbols of royal identity does the drawing include, and why?
  • How might this image differ from how Ramesses II actually appeared in life?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Ramses II (Ramses the Great) on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Two clay cuneiform tablets on a clear acrylic stand against a red background. The larger tablet is broken into several fragments, covered in dense wedge-shaped writing. A smaller tablet fragment sits at lower right, also inscribed.Document

Primary source

Egyptian–Hittite Peace Treaty

c. 1258 BCE

Sepia photograph of the facade of the Abu Simbel temple in Egypt, with four seated colossal statues of Ramesses II carved into the rock. A small standing man at lower left shows scale. A doorway lies between the middle statues, and hieroglyphs are carved across the upper wall.Photograph

Secondary source

Abu Simbel Temple Colossi

Pascal Sébah · 1875

Facade of the Great Temple at Abu Simbel carved into a sandstone cliff under a clear blue sky. Four seated colossal statues of a pharaoh flank the central doorway, with a sand-covered walkway leading up to the entrance.Artifact

Primary source

Abu Simbel

Ramesses II · c. 1273 BCE

Sepia photograph of the Abu Simbel temple facade in Egypt. A colossal seated stone statue of a pharaoh with a striped headdress dominates the right. Beside it stands a statue of a falcon-headed god wearing a sun disk. Relief carvings and hieroglyphs cover the wall, and a small seated man at the bottom gives scale. Caption reads Abou Simbel, Gd Temple, Le dieu Soleil Ra et Rhamses II, P. Sébah.Photograph

Secondary source

Facade Detail of Abu Simbel Showing Ramesses II and Ra

Pascal Sébah · 1875

Sepia photograph of the ruined Ramesseum temple at Luxor, Egypt. Four fallen-headed colossal seated statues stand before a sandstone gateway with carved hieroglyphs on its lintel. A broken statue lies in the foreground, and a small figure sits near the base of the statues. Desert and a column are visible on the left.Photograph

Secondary source

Ramesseum Colossi in Ruins

Pascal Sébah · c. 1875

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