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Statue of Ramesses II (Mit Rahina)
Encyclopedia
The Statue of Ramesses II is a 3,200-year-old figure of Ramesses II
, depicting him standing, that was discovered in 1820 by Giovanni Battista Caviglia at the Great Temple of Ptah of Mit-Rahina near Memphis, Egypt
. It is made from red granite
.
The statue was found broken in six pieces and earlier attempts at restoration failed. In 1955, Egyptian Prime Minister
Gamal Abdel Nasser
moved
the statue to the large Bab Al-Hadid square in Cairo
that was then renamed Ramses Square. There the statue was restored to its full height of 11 meters
and erected on a three -meter pedestal at the edge of a fountain. It was stabilized by iron bars inside the body.
Over time Ramses Square turned out to be an unsuitable location, as the statue continued to be exposed to noise, pollution, and vibration from traffic and subways. The Egyptian government therefore decided to relocate the statue to a safer and more dignified location. At a temporary location on the Giza Plateau
it will undergo restoration. The eventual resting place of the statue of Ramesses II will be the Grand Egyptian Museum
(GEM) that is under construction. It is planned that the statue will greet visitors at the entrance to the GEM that is scheduled to open in 2013.
The transport of the statue from Ramses Square to Giza was a technological challenge that had been in the planning since 2002. The statue weighs about 83 ton
s. A replica had been made and was transported several weeks before the scheduled actual move along the planned route to Giza to test the proposed relocation process. The move took place on August 25, 2006. During its ten-hour transport the statue was wrapped and covered in rubber foam. Two flat-back trucks carried the weight of the statue and its support structures as it travelled in a vertical position.
The move has been criticized for its costs and the concern about pollution in the Giza location.
Ramesses II
Ramesses II , referred to as Ramesses the Great, was the third Egyptian pharaoh of the Nineteenth dynasty. He is often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh of the Egyptian Empire...
, depicting him standing, that was discovered in 1820 by Giovanni Battista Caviglia at the Great Temple of Ptah of Mit-Rahina near Memphis, Egypt
Memphis, Egypt
Memphis was the ancient capital of Aneb-Hetch, the first nome of Lower Egypt. Its ruins are located near the town of Helwan, south of Cairo.According to legend related by Manetho, the city was founded by the pharaoh Menes around 3000 BC. Capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom, it remained an...
. It is made from red granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
.
Prime Minister of Egypt
The Prime Minister of Egypt is the head of the Egyptian government. According to the constitution, the prime minister is the leader of the largest political party in the Egyptian Parliament....
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
moved
Structure relocation
A structure relocation is the process of moving a structure from one location to another. There are two main ways for a structure to be moved: disassembling and then reassembling it at the required destination, or transporting it whole. For the latter, the building may be pushed on temporary rails...
the statue to the large Bab Al-Hadid square in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
that was then renamed Ramses Square. There the statue was restored to its full height of 11 meters
Metre
The metre , symbol m, is the base unit of length in the International System of Units . Originally intended to be one ten-millionth of the distance from the Earth's equator to the North Pole , its definition has been periodically refined to reflect growing knowledge of metrology...
and erected on a three -meter pedestal at the edge of a fountain. It was stabilized by iron bars inside the body.
Over time Ramses Square turned out to be an unsuitable location, as the statue continued to be exposed to noise, pollution, and vibration from traffic and subways. The Egyptian government therefore decided to relocate the statue to a safer and more dignified location. At a temporary location on the Giza Plateau
Giza Plateau
The Giza Plateau is a plateau that is located in Giza, Egypt. The famous Giza Necropolis is located in this geographical area, which is characterized by a sandy, desert climate and terrain with little vegetation....
it will undergo restoration. The eventual resting place of the statue of Ramesses II will be the Grand Egyptian Museum
Grand Egyptian Museum
The Grand Egyptian Museum , also known as the Giza Museum, is a planned museum of artifacts of ancient Egypt. Described as the largest archaeological museum in the world, the USD 550 million museum is scheduled to open in 2013...
(GEM) that is under construction. It is planned that the statue will greet visitors at the entrance to the GEM that is scheduled to open in 2013.
The transport of the statue from Ramses Square to Giza was a technological challenge that had been in the planning since 2002. The statue weighs about 83 ton
Ton
The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...
s. A replica had been made and was transported several weeks before the scheduled actual move along the planned route to Giza to test the proposed relocation process. The move took place on August 25, 2006. During its ten-hour transport the statue was wrapped and covered in rubber foam. Two flat-back trucks carried the weight of the statue and its support structures as it travelled in a vertical position.
The move has been criticized for its costs and the concern about pollution in the Giza location.
Other large statues of Ramesses II
Other large statues of Ramesses II include:- A large (12 m) sitting statue of Ramesses II, found in 2004.
- Statues of Ramesses II in LuxorLuxorLuxor is a city in Upper Egypt and the capital of Luxor Governorate. The population numbers 487,896 , with an area of approximately . As the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open air museum", as the ruins of the temple...
- Statue of Ramesses II in Abu SimbelAbu SimbelAbu Simbel temples refers to two massive rock temples in Abu Simbel in Nubia, southern Egypt on the western bank of Lake Nasser about 230 km southwest of Aswan...
- Statue of Ramesses II in Memphis
- The Younger MemnonYounger MemnonThe Younger Memnon statue is one of two colossal granite heads from the Ancient Egyptian mortuary temple called the Ramesseum at Thebes, depicting the pharaoh Ramesses II wearing the nemes head-dress with a cobra diadem on top. This incomplete statue has lost its body and lower legs; it is one of a...
, a statue of Ramesses II from Thebes now in the British Museum.