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Primary sourceSculpturec. 1425-1213 BCE

Statue of Amenhotep II Usurped by Ramesses II

c. 1425-1213 BCE

A granite statue originally of Amenhotep II, later recarved with the name of Ramesses II.

This statue was originally of Amenhotep II but was recarved with Ramesses II's name, showing his appropriation of monuments.

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Photograph of a standing red granite statue of an Egyptian pharaoh wearing a striped nemes headdress and a shendyt kilt with inscribed columns, viewed from the side on a dark display base with a metal support rod. The lower legs and parts of the figure are broken.
Statue of Amenhotep II, later usurped by Ramesses II. Museo Egizio, Turin.

About this source

What it is

This standing red granite statue, dating to around 1425–1213 BCE, depicts an Egyptian pharaoh wearing a striped nemes headdress and shendyt kilt. It was originally made for Amenhotep II but was later recarved with the name of Ramesses II. It is held in the Museo Egizio, Turin.

Why it matters

This statue is direct evidence of a common royal practice: taking over the monuments of earlier kings by replacing their names with one's own. It shows how Ramesses II, like other pharaohs, reused existing statues rather than always commissioning new ones, strengthening his image through association with past greatness.

Look closer

  • Why would a pharaoh want to put his own name on another king's statue?
  • How might historians tell that a statue has been recarved?
  • What does this practice suggest about how Egyptians viewed royal monuments?

This sculpture 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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