Colossal statues of Ramses II flank the facade of the Great Temple of Abu Simbel

“On the sand
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies …
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’”

~ Extract from the poem ‘Ozymandias’ by Percy Bysshe Shelley, an English Poet in the 19th Century. The poem was inspired by a statue of Ramses II in the Ramesseum, Ramses II’s funerary temple in Luxor

Ancient Egypt had many remarkable pharaohs. However, one stands out above all others. Ramses II the ‘Great’. A king of kings who is still remembered 3,300 years after his death. A man whose mummy lies in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, a silent smile playing around his lips, somehow aware that he had achieved the sustaining principle of Egyptian civilisation—everlasting life. Continue reading →