This year we have the anniversary of the 200th anniversary of the discovery by the Italian Giovanni Battista Cavellia, the statues of King Ramses II in 1820 in the Met Rahina area, which was called (Memphis), the capital of ancient Egypt.
The archaeological researcher, Tamer Al-Minshawi, said that the two statues are twins, the first is currently in the Mit Rahina Museum, "lying on his back," and the second is the famous statue that was transferred from Ramses Square to the Grand Egyptian Museum recently, indicating that the two statues were standing outside the great Ptah temple in Manaf. And that the first statue was found in a pit and was lying on its face in water and mud, and it is carved from a single block of soft crystalline limestone, which is very similar to marble, and has a loss below the knees, and it remained in this position for about 60 years, and every year comes He has to flood and submerge him, and does not reappear until after the water recedes from him.
"Al-Minshawi" explained that this situation continued until the Egyptian Antiquities Authority established in 1985 the Dead Hostage Museum, which is the first open museum in a manf, to preserve this huge statue, in a position lying on its back, and it has a dagger in the belt of King Zain with its handle in the form of two heads of a falcon. He was used for protection, and 10 cartridges were distributed on his belt, strap, right shoulder, and the cylindrical papyrus roll in his hands.
He added that on the statue there is an image of a child who is believed to be "Khaa Emwas," one of the sons of King Ramses II, and there is also an inscription on the statue of a woman or princess raising the king's foot, and it is believed that she is his wife, or raising his foot to support him.
As for the second statue, Al-Minshawi explained that this statue was found by Giovanni in 1820 AD, and it was divided into six parts at this time, and it was transferred based on a decision of the Revolutionary Command Council in 1954 to Bab Al-Hadid Square, named after his name "Ramses" in central Cairo by a German company. .
Tamer Al-Minshawi indicated that the late Egyptian restorer Ahmed Othman assembled the statue and completed the missing leg and foot, in addition to restoring the royal crown and some small parts in it, and the statue was erected in a standing position in Ramses Square, and a fountain was set up for it to decorate the square that bears his name, but it was removed before The statue was transferred on August 25, 2006 to the Grand Egyptian Museum in Shooting Square in Giza.
The archaeological researcher pointed out that the decision to move the statue from Ramses Square to the Grand Museum came with the aim of protecting it from environmental pollution caused by the movement of trains and cars and the vibrations caused by the movement of the subway that passes near its old site, and the arrival of the statue of King Ramses II to the museum marked the beginning of work on it. It was the first artifact to be transferred to the museum among the 150,000 pieces that the museum will display upon its inauguration, and on January 25, 2018, the statue was moved again to its permanent headquarters in the museum's great foyer, so that the statue would be the first piece a tourist sees when visiting this place.
He pointed out that the statue is made of pink granite and weighs about 83 tons, and its technical features show the features of the prominence of the chest and the body and the king is in a standing position, and he is presenting his left leg forward, and he wears a ferret and above it the double crown, which is the red crown that represents the north, which is the delta, and the white crown He represents the south, his beard is straight, and he wears a short kilt and a dagger on the belt of the kilt.
On the authority of King Ramses II, the archaeologist Tamer Al-Minshawi said that he was one of the greatest kings of ancient Egypt, and his reign exceeded 67 years (1279 - 1213 BC), and any archaeological area in Egypt is not free of monuments bearing his name, including the temples of Karnak and Luxor at Thebes, and his temple The funerary known as "Ramesseum" in the west of Thebes, in Memphis, its temple in Abydos, and its great Nubian temples at Abu Simbel, Beit al-Wali, Aksha, Jurf Husayn, and Wadi Seba '.
Al-Minshawi added that King Ramses II is one of the greatest warrior kings of Egypt, as he fought in front of the largest military force of his time ever, which was the Hittite Empire located in Asia Minor, whose political and military influence extended to northern Syria, and clashed with it in The largest battle in the history of the ancient world, the Battle of (Kadesh), which took place in the fifth year of his reign in the city of Kadesh in northern Syria, in which he was able to convert the defeat achieved at the beginning of the fighting into a field victory on the battlefield thanks to his legendary bravery.
Tamer Al-Minshawi confirmed that King Ramses II was great in his peace as he was great in his war, referring to the peace treaty he signed with the Hittites, which ended 50 years of violent political and war conflict.
Regarding the history of the area where the statues were discovered, the archaeological researcher said that the dead hostage "Memphis" or Munafar or Memphis, one of the oldest ancient Egyptian capitals and its official idol became Ptah, and its current location is in the Badrashin area of Giza Governorate, 19 km south of Cairo, and includes a number of temples, including a temple Ptah the Great and the Temple of Hathor and Mummification.
He added that Memphis was known as the "White Wall" until the 26th century BC, until the Egyptians called it "Min Nefer", which was the name that the Greeks turned to "Memphis", then the Arabs called it "Memphis."
Wed, Aug. 26, 2020
