"The amazingly preserved 3,000-year-old face with its proud, beaky nose looks much as it must have when he died at the age of 90 or 91, after ruling for 66 years, fathering more than 100 children, smiting his enemies and making ancient Egypt great again. And that's even before you notice how his hand seems to reach forward to grasp spookily at power from beyond the grave."
"Ramses the Great would surely be disgusted that the boy king, who achieved little in his short life and was virtually erased from their history by the ancient Egyptians, has turned out to be the most famous pharaoh of all just because of the intact survival of his tomb."
"Unlike Tut, Ramses worked hard for the eternal glory he believed he deserved. He fought wars, made peace deals, built himself gigantic monuments. Yet he has become a byword for forgetting, due to Shelley's Ozymandias, one of the most celebrated poems in the English language."
Ramses II ruled Egypt for 66 years, fathered over 100 children, and constructed monumental achievements including wars, peace treaties, and gigantic monuments. His mummy, preserved with exceptional skill, displays his distinctive beaky nose and appears to reach forward with his hand. Despite his substantial accomplishments and efforts toward eternal glory, Ramses has become synonymous with forgotten power through Shelley's famous poem Ozymandias. Tutankhamun, a boy king who achieved little and was erased from Egyptian history, paradoxically became the world's most famous pharaoh due to his tomb's intact discovery. A new exhibition at Battersea Power Station in London showcases Ramses' treasures and coffin, offering fresh opportunity to recognize his historical significance.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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