Skip to main content

Primary sourceSculpturec. 1300 BCE

Stele of Ramesses II as a Child

c. 1300 BCE

A limestone stele showing Ramesses II as a youth, linked to his early life as prince regent under his father Seti I.

This stele is a rare depiction of Ramesses II in childhood, from before he became pharaoh.

Ask Ramses II (Ramses the Great) about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Photograph of a carved limestone relief stele on a dark background. A seated figure in profile wears a side-lock and headband with a uraeus, with one hand raised to the mouth, and sits on a cushion beside a cartouche and hieroglyphic inscriptions.
Stele of Ramesses II as a Child, limestone, c. 1300 BCE. Louvre, Paris.

About this source

What it is

This is a carved limestone stele depicting Ramesses II as a child, dated to around 1300 BCE. It shows a seated figure in profile wearing a side-lock and headband with a uraeus, hand raised to the mouth, beside a cartouche and hieroglyphic inscriptions. It is held in the Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre.

Why it matters

Images of royal children are rare in Egyptian art, which makes this stele valuable for studying Ramesses II's early life, when he served as prince regent under his father, Seti I. It gives a glimpse of how the royal family presented even a young prince with royal symbols such as the uraeus cobra, hinting at his future role.

Look closer

  • What details in the carving mark this figure out as royal, even though he is shown as a child?
  • Why might rulers want images of their children made at all?
  • What does the hand raised to the mouth suggest, and how might viewers interpret this gesture?

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.

More Ramses II (Ramses the Great) sources

Meet the AI Ramses II (Ramses the Great) →
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

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Ramses II (Ramses the Great) now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions