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Primary sourceSculpturec. 1279-1213 BCE

Stela of Ramesses II and the Vizier Paser

c. 1279-1213 BCE

A broken limestone stela showing Ramesses II with his vizier Paser, who managed his administration.

This stela depicts Ramesses II alongside his vizier, showing him as a ruler supported by administrators.

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Photograph of a fragmentary limestone stela with raised relief carvings, shown against a plain background with a color calibration chart and label reading CGT 50095. Upper piece shows hieroglyphs and a seated figure; lower piece shows a carved profile figure wearing a crown.
Fragmentary stela of Ramesses II and Vizier Paser, c. 1279-1213 BCE. Museo Egizio, Turin.

About this source

What it is

This is a fragmentary limestone stela carved in raised relief, dating from the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. It shows King Ramesses II together with his vizier Paser. The stela is now held by the Museo Egizio in Turin.

Why it matters

Viziers like Paser ran the day-to-day business of government for the pharaoh, so a monument pairing the two shows how royal power depended on trusted officials. The stela is a rare physical trace of the relationship between a king and the men who kept his kingdom running.

Look closer

  • What differences do you notice between how the king and the vizier are shown?
  • Why might the stela have been broken, and what information might be missing?
  • What does showing an official next to the king suggest about how power worked in ancient Egypt?

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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