On 18th April 2019 a very special celebration took place during the evening at Luxor Temple, an amazing Osirid statue of Ramses the Great standing 36ft high was unveiled and it stands beneath the left front pylon of the temple, the statue had been found broken and in 57 pieces in 1958.
The Horus, Mighty Bull, Exalter of Thebes, Favorite of the Two Goddess, establishing monuments for his father Amun who placed him on the Throne, Golden Horus seeking excellent things for him who fashioned him King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Usamatre, Chosen of Re, has been reborn.
In ancient Egypt, it was believed that if the name of the pharaoh was spoken again he would be reborn, so Ramses stands regally as the God Osiris, a primeval king of Egypt who became the Judge of the Underworld after he had been murdered by his jealous brother Set, and brought back to life again by his wife the Goddess Isis, who had travelled all over Egypt to find the parts of his body that Set had dismembered
Like the God Osiris, Ramses holds the crook and flail which signified the pharaonic authority. The shepherd's crook stood for kingship and symbolically expressed that the King was the Shepherd of his people, the flail was for the fertility of the land. Osiris had ruled Egypt, having inherited the kingship from his ancestors in a lineage stretching back to the creator of the world. Ramses chose to be portrayed as Osiris who is connected with life-giving power, righteous kingship, and the rule of Maat, which represented ancient Egyptian concepts of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice
The main pylons of Luxor temple celebrate Ramses and his victory over the Hittites at the battle of Kaddesh which took place during the fifth year of the king’s reign. Ramses is shown in large relief whilst his enemies are represented in small scale to inspire his people of their Kings unquestionable supremacy and invincible strength against all the enemies of Egypt. In faint relief on the right side of the pylon, is a depiction of the kings encampment before the battle is shown, his large tent stands in the center surrounded by the smaller tents of his troop, cavalry horses and chariots wait, whilst a lion trainer controls the beast that is anchored to a ring in the ground, a man is being beaten for information in the top corner of the encampment whilst soldiers continue with their normal chores and duties. On the highest level of the left pylon, Ramses charges fearlessly across the battleground, his bow is taught and the arrows ready to fly as his chariot recklessly hurtles in to the midst of his enemies, he is alone and completely surrounded cut off from his troops, he had compromised himself with his actions, and yet like the raging lion Sekhmet his strength is increased as he tears into the enemies scattering and maiming them beneath the wheels of his chariot.
Ramesses had 200 wives and concubines, 96 sons and 60 daughters, he ruled for over 67 years, his favorite wife was Nefertari who can be seen at the side of his leg as he is sat on the throne of two lands each side of the entrance into Luxor temple, to express his love for his Queen, Ramses had a beautiful tomb created for Nefertari in the Valley of the Queens, and among his many accomplishments, Ramses also created a temple at Abu Simbel for himself and a smaller one dedicated to Nefertari..
Ramses body had been removed from his tomb in the Valley of the Kings with about fifty other members of royalty, and he was hidden in a poor undecorated tomb DB320 by priests in the 23rd Dynasty who probably emptied the tombs in the Valley of the Kings for the wealth inside them, after the death of Ramses 111 during the 20th dynasty Egypt had gone into decline, and priests ruled the country not Kings.
During the summer of 1871 Ramses mummy was found by a tomb robber named Ahmed Abd el Rassul, Ahmed climbed down a thirty foot shaft, once inside the tomb he realized he had found a great collection of mummies, so he retrieved his goat that had fell down the shaft, and went in search of his brothers to tell them of his discovery, together the brothers decided that they needed a plan to keep people away from the tomb and protect their discovery ensuring their wealth to come. They returned to the tomb and threw a dead donkey inside the shaft, the stench of the donkey as it decayed would erase any further curiosity from others, and possibly convincing any suspicious minds that a demon had woken in the tomb. Over the next ten years the tomb robbers prospered with their treasure trove that gradually made its way to the hands of collectors and auction houses. Eventually The Antiquities service realized that a tomb must have been found, and so Sir Gaston Maspero sent one of the museum staff Emile Brugsch to discover where the artifacts were coming from. Emile presented himself as a wealthy buyer which gained the trust of the traders, and finally led him to the Abd Rassul Brothers. The brothers were arrested and tortured and despite a severe beating on the soles of the feet they would not give their discovery away, eventually after a month they were released, but then the police harassed their family and the villagers at Quarna continuously until eventually one of the brothers confessed to the police where the tomb was to avoid any further harassment of themselves or the rest of the villagers.
After 3,000 years of seclusion the Royal mummies left the tomb DB320 near the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut at Dier El Bahari and were carried by donkeys and mules to the banks of the Nile where they were transported to Cairo. Women came to the riverbank and wailed in mourning for the deceased kings and their kin. Never in the history of any nation has there been such an awesome entourage of deceased royalty, the glory of Ancient Egypt rose again as their pharaohs traveled to safety in Cairo, their final resting place, where modern scientists now continue the work of some of the ancient priests to protect and preserve the mummies of their kings.
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