Egyptian sculpture (Room 4)

2600 BC – 2nd century AD

Large-scale sculpture was an important feature of the great temples and tombs of ancient Egypt and was believed to be imbued with powerful spiritual qualities.

Sculptures on display in Room 4 include stylised depictions of kings, deities and symbolic objects ranging from the time of the Old Kingdom to the middle of the Roman Period. There are also architectural pieces from temples and tombs. An imposing stone bust of the great pharaoh Ramesses II presides over the room, while the world-famous Rosetta Stone, with its inscribed scripts, demonstrates how Egypt’s ancient form of pictographic writing was deciphered for the first time.

Image captions (clockwise from top left):

The Rosetta Stone 196 BC

Colossal bust of Ramesses II, the 'Younger Memnon' about 1250 BC

List of the kings of Egypt from the Temple of Ramesses II around 1250 BC

Colossal head of Amenhotep III around 1350 BC