Wall of the Temple of Ramesses II at Abydos
Unknown · Reign of Ramesses II, 1279-1212 BC
These painted blocks once formed the upper part of the north wall of a chapel in the temple that Ramesses II built at Abydos, the holy city of Osiris. Gods and king face each other in sunk relief, with colour still clinging to the surface. Horus, falcon headed, holds out the ankh, the sign of life, to the king's nose. Onuris, the warrior god of the region, wears tall plumes and presents the flail, the crook and the was sceptre, the emblems of rule. A goddess offers the menat, the heavy beaded counterpoise of a necklace that was shaken like a rattle in her cult. Look for the way the cutting deepens around the hands, so that the gestures stand out in shadow.
Ramesses II finished the temple of his father Seti I at Abydos and then built his own smaller temple nearby, a jewel of fine limestone and vivid paint. In the early nineteenth century parts of its walls were removed and sold. These blocks belonged to Jean-François Mimaut, the French consul general in Egypt, and the Louvre bought them at the sale of his collection in 1837.
Did You Know? The blocks come from the upper part of one wall of a single chapel, so you are looking at the top of a room that still stands in Abydos.
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