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Primary sourceArtifactc. 1279-1213 BCE

Ramesses II Suckled by a Goddess

c. 1279-1213 BCE

An ostracon showing Pharaoh Ramesses II being nursed by a goddess, expressing his divine status.

This ostracon depicts Ramesses II nursed by a goddess, a visual claim of his divine nature.

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Painted limestone ostracon, a broken flake with a rough edge, showing two figures in red and black paint: a taller figure with a headdress and a smaller figure in a blue-and-gold crown beside a cartouche with hieroglyphs, on a grey background.
Ostracon showing Ramesses II suckled by a goddess, c. 1279-1213 BCE. Found near Thebes.

About this source

What it is

This is a painted limestone ostracon, a broken flake used as a casual writing or drawing surface, found near Thebes in Egypt and dating to about 1279-1213 BCE. It depicts Ramesses II being suckled by an unidentified goddess.

Why it matters

Egyptian kings were often shown receiving divine nourishment from a goddess to express their special, god-given status. This image is a vivid example of how pharaohs like Ramesses II used art to present themselves as more than ordinary rulers, linking their power to the gods.

Look closer

  • What details in the painting signal which figure is the goddess and which is the king?
  • Why might an artist choose to show a king being nursed, rather than in battle or on a throne?
  • What does the rough, broken material (an ostracon) tell you about how and where this image was made?

This artifact 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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