Younger Memnon (Ramesses II)

Younger Memnon is an Ancient Egyptian statue, one of two colossal granite heads from the Ramesseum mortuary temple in Thebes. It depicts Pharaoh Ramesses II wearing the Nemes head-dress with a cobra diadem on top.

The damaged statue is one of a pair that initially flanked the Ramesseum’s doorway. The head of the other figure can be seen at the Ramesseum temple near Luxor.

The Younger Memnon was cut from a single block of two-tone granite. The eyes look down slightly; this unique feature is more exaggerated than the usual Egyptian conventions.

Also, the sculptures exploited the different colors of the stone to make the head a lighter tone compared to the remaining body structure, making this statue rather unique.

During Napoleon’s 1798 Expedition to Egypt, the French tried but failed to transport this colossal statue to France. It was during the French attempt that the hole on the right of the torso just above Ramesses’s right nipple was made.

Eventually, after the British defeated Napoleon, the British Consul General in Cairo succeeded in paying for significant engineering and a workforce to have this vast sculpture sent to London. The British Museum in 1821 acquired it.

Napoleon’s Expedition to Egypt

Napoleon Bonaparte’s campaign in the Ottoman territories of Egypt and Syria, during 1798–1801, was launched to defend French trade interests and to establish a scientific enterprise in the region. 

On the scientific front, the expedition led to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, creating intense interest in Egyptology.

Despite an initially successful expedition, Napoleon was eventually forced to withdraw after the defeat of the supporting French fleet by the British Navy at the Battle of the Nile.

Memnon

In London, Ramesses II statue acquired the name “The Younger Memnon,” after the name “Memnonianum,” which was the name from classical Roman times for the Ramesseum Temple site.

The figures at the entrance of the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III were associated with Memnon in classical times.

In Greek and Roman mythology, Memnon was an Ethiopian king and was considered to be almost Achilles’ equal in battle skills. According to legend, during the Trojan War, he brought an army to Troy’s defense.

Ramesseum

The Ramesseum is the vast memorial temple of Pharaoh Ramesses II. It is located in the Theban necropolis across the River Nile from the modern city of Luxor.

The name was coined by Jean-François Champollion, who visited the ruins of the site in 1829 and first identified the hieroglyphs making up Ramesses’s names and titles on the walls.

Ozymandias

In antiquity, Ozymandias was the Greek name for the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II. Shelley revived this name, in his famous Ozymandias poem in 1817, soon after the announcement of the British Museum’s acquisition of a statue of Ramesses II.

The statue’s reputation in England preceded its actual arrival, and scholars believe that Shelley was inspired by the history of this statue to write his Ozymandias poem.

The theme of the “Ozymandias” poem is the inevitable decline of rulers with their pretensions to greatness.

‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings;
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
– Percy Shelley’s “Ozymandias”

Younger Memnon (Ramesses II)

• Artifact:          Younger Memnon (Ramesses II)
• Created:         1270 BC
• Ruler:              Ramesses II
• Period:            19th Dynasty
• Findspot:         Ramesseum, Luxor.
• Culture:           Ancient Egypt
• Materials:        Granite
• Dimensions:    H: 267 cm (105 in) W: 203 cm (80 in)
• Museum:         The British Museum

The Younger Memnon

Ozymandias’ Poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley

A Tour of the British Museum

Ancient Egypt and Sudan Collection

• The Rosetta Stone
• The Battlefield Palette 3100 BC
• Quartzite Head of the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III
• Colossal Granite Statue of Amenhotep III
• Hunters Palette
• Tomb of Nebamun
• Younger Memnon (Ramesses II)

Middle East Collection

• The Lion Hunt
• Cyrus Cylinder
• Royal Game of Ur
• Gilgamesh Flood Tablet
• Stela of Shamshi-Adad V
• Standard of Ur
• Ram in a Thicket
• Tell al-‘Ubaid Copper Lintel

Ancient Greece and Rome Collection

• Marble figure of a Woman – Spedos Type
• The Parthenon Marbles
• The Parthenon Frieze
• Metopes of the Parthenon
• Pedimental Sculptures of the Parthenon
• The Erechtheion Caryatid
• Lion from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
• Bust of Pericles
• Aegina Treasure
• Townley Caryatid
• Bronze Statue of a Youth
• Thalia, Muse of Comedy
• Nereid Monument
• Sarcophagus of Seianti Hanunia Tlesnasa
• Lely Venus – Crouching Aphrodite
• Tomb of Payava
• Marble Portrait Bust of the Blind Poet Homer

Britain, Europe, and Prehistory Collection

• Ain Sakhri Lovers
• The Sutton Hoo Ship Burial
• Lewis Chessmen
• Holy Thorn Reliquary
• Mechanical Galleon
• Black St George Icon
• Knight Aquamanile
• Gold Mold Cape

Asian Collection

• Seated Buddha from Gandhara
• Statue of Tara
• Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara
• Avalokiteshvara – Guanyin
• Nandi – Figure of the Humped Bull of Śiva
• Garuda
• Budai Hesheng
• Luohan – Yixian Glazed Ceramic Sculpture

Africa, Oceania and the Americas Collection

• Double-Headed Serpent
• Hoa Hakananai’a / Moai from Easter Island
• Hawaiian Feathered Helmet
• Bronze Head from Ife
• Benin Ivory Mask

The Prints and Drawings Collection

• “Studies of a Reclining Male Nude” by Michelangelo
• Newport Castle by J. M. W. Turner
• “Hampstead Heath” by John Constable
• “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” by Katsushika Hokusai
• “Rainstorm Beneath the Summit” by Katsushika Hokusai

Information on The British Museum

• Masterpieces of the British Museum

Ramses II 

Ancient Hieroglyphics Reveal Ramesses II

~~~

“I am great OZYMANDIAS,” saith the stone,
“The King of Kings; this mighty City shows
“The wonders of my hand.”
– Horace Smith’s “Ozymandias”

~~~

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Photo Credit: 1) By Ricardo Tulio Gandelman from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (P1050610Uploaded by Marcus Cyron) [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons