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Primary sourceArtifact13th century BCE

Red Granite Column of Ramesses II

13th century BCE

A red granite palm-capital column inscribed with the names and titles of Ramesses II, later partly re-inscribed by Osorkon II.

This column bears the names and titles of Ramesses II, later partly re-inscribed by Osorkon II, showing his monuments' long afterlife.

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A tall red granite column with a palm-leaf capital at top, carved with rows of hieroglyphs and cartouches, standing in a museum gallery with a coffered ceiling. Visitors stand nearby and sunlight falls across the column.
Red granite column with palm-capital of Ramesses II, British Museum.

About this source

What it is

This is a tall red granite column with a palm-leaf capital, carved with hieroglyphic reliefs giving the names and titles of Ramesses II. It is held in the British Museum, and its cartouches show signs of having been partially altered by a later king, Osorkon II.

Why it matters

Egyptian rulers often reused and re-inscribed earlier monuments with their own names, a practice called usurpation. This column shows Ramesses II's original inscriptions being partly overwritten by Osorkon II centuries later, revealing how later pharaohs claimed earlier monuments as their own to link themselves to a powerful predecessor.

Look closer

  • Can you see where the cartouches might have been changed from one king's name to another's?
  • Why would a later king want to alter an existing monument instead of building a new one?
  • What does this column's journey to the British Museum tell you about how ancient Egyptian objects have been collected and displayed?

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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