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Primary sourceSculpture1279-1213 BCE

Statue of Ramesses II Seated Between Amun and Mut

1279-1213 BCE

A granite group statue showing Ramesses II seated with the gods Amun and Mut, asserting his divine status.

This statue shows Ramesses II seated with Amun and Mut, asserting his claim to divine status.

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Photograph of a reddish-brown granite seated group statue on a dark plinth against a grey background. Three seated figures sit on a shared bench in front of a tall back pillar carved with hieroglyphs: a king in the centre wearing a tall crown and a false beard, flanked by a figure on the left wearing a tall crown and a figure on the right wearing a headdress with a disk and horns.
Statue of Ramesses II seated between Amun and Mut, 1279-1213 BCE. Museo Egizio, Turin.

About this source

What it is

This granite statue group, dated 1279–1213 BCE, shows a king seated on a bench between two deities. It is held in the Museo Egizio in Turin, Italy.

Why it matters

The piece places Ramesses II alongside the Theban gods Amun and Mut, expressing his claim to be divine as well as royal. Such images were a political and religious statement, linking the pharaoh's authority directly to the gods of Thebes.

Look closer

  • Why might a king want to be shown seated as an equal beside gods?
  • What do the headdresses tell you about who is who in the group?
  • What might this statue have meant to ordinary Egyptians who saw it?

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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