Ramesseum

We were lucky enough to squeeze in a visit to the Ramesseum, the mortuary temple of Ramses II, whose colossal statue inspired the famous poem "Ozymandias" by Shelly. Only fragments of the site remain, but there is good preservation of the large storage areas in the back of the temple in which early excavators actually lived during excavation (read it on page 1 of the report here). It was in the fourth compartment in the northwest corner of the temple that the so-called "magician's tomb" was found, in which a very important collection of papyri now known as the Ramesseum Papyri were discovered. Nadine took time to relate the battle of Qadesh while pointing out interesting features in the scenes depicted by Ramses.

Ramesseum with Colossal Staute

Nadine explains the battle of Qadesh

Colossal Statue of Ramses II

Osiride Statues

Storage Compartments (Photo by Larry L.)