statue

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Object Type
Museum number: EA19
Title: Object: The Younger Memnon
Description: Head and upper body of pink/grey granite monumental statue of Ramses II (one of a pair placed before the door of the Ramesseum) wearing nemes head-cloth and circlet of uraei (about half now lost), the sculptor has exploited the bichrome nature of the stone to emphasise the division between body and face; the dorsal pillar is inscribed with vertical registers of hieroglyphs - giving the name and titles of the king and part of a dedication to Amun-Ra; in 1817 it was noted that there were traces of colour upon the statue and it may have, therefore, been painted red in antiquity.
Cultures/periods
Excavator/field collector
Findspot: Found/Acquired: Ramesseum (Thebes), Doorway
Materials: granodiorite; red granite
Dimensions: Height: 266.80 centimetres (max); Width: 203.30 centimetres (max;across shoulders)
$Inscriptions
Inscription subject
Bibliographic references: Jolliffe 1820 / Letters from Palestine, descriptive of a tour through Gallilee and Judæa, with some account of the Dead Sea, and of the present state of Jerusalem: to which are added, letters from Egypt (pp. 333- 335); Belzoni 1822 / Narrative of the operations and recent discoveries within the pyramids, temples, tombs, and excavations, in Egypt and Nubia; and of a journey to the coast of the Red Sea, in search of the ancient Berenice, and another to the oasis of Jupiter Ammon (pp. 61- 80); Noehden 1822 / Ueber das sogenannte Memnons-Bild im Brittischen Museum im London; Davies 1905 / The rock tombs of El-Amarna (For King wearing modius wuth uraei and sundisk, as support for hemhemet crown: see pl. 8); Porter & Moss 1929 / Topographical bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings 2: Theban Temples (p. 153); Hall 1930 / General Introductory Guide to the Egyptian Collections (p. 365, fig. 201); Vandier 1958 / Manuel d’archéologie égyptienne (p. 396; p. 409); Jack 1967 / Keats and the Mirror of Art (p. 167ff); James 1970 / Hieroglyphic texts from Egyptian stelae, etc., in the British Museum, Part 9. (p. 8, pl. 5); Porter and Moss 1972 / Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings 2: Theban Temples (p. 436); Vandersleyen 1975 / Das alte Ägypten (pl. 203); McNaught 1978 / Henry Salt: His contribution to the Collections of Egyptian Sculpture in the British Museum (pp. 224- 226); James and Davies 1983 / Egyptian Sculpture (Front Cover); Cimmino 1984 / Ramesses II, il Grande (p. 326; pp. 308- 309, p. 355); Leblanc 1985 / Diodore, le tombeau d'Osymandyas et la statuaire du Ramesseum (avec 6 planches) (p. 80, n. 45; pl. IV, b); Siliotti 1985 / Viaggiatori veneti alla scoperta dell'Egitto: itinerari di storia e arte (p. 95); Fornari and Tosi 1987 / Nella sede della verità: Deir el Medina e l'ipogeo di Thutmosi III (p. 141); Hamblin 1988 / Behold the amazing, the spectacular, Giovanni Belzoni (pp. 80- 81; p. 84; pp. 86- 87); Meyer 1988 / Brennpunkt Geometrie. Jahrgangsstufe 7 (p. 26); Sattin 1988 / Lifting the veil: British society in Egypt, 1768-1956 (pp. 35- 38; pp. 41- 43); Serino 1988 / L'Egitto e la sua riscoperta nell'Ottocento (p. 11); Sourouzian 1988 / Standing Royal Colossi of the Middle Kingdom Reused by Ramesses II (p. 235, n. 26); Wilson 1989 / The Collections of the British Museum (pp. 61- 62); Donadoni 1990 / Egypt from myth to Egyptology (p. 155); Hart 1990 / Anicent Egypt (p. 11); Bryan 1991 / Reviews (p. 203); Bryan and Kozloff 1992 / Egypt's Dazzling Sun (p. 319); Quirke & Spencer 1992 / The British Museum Book of Ancient Egypt (fig. 99); Kitchen 1999 / Ramesside Inscriptions: Ramesses II, Royal Inscriptions. Translated and Annotated, Translations (p. 667); Leblanc and Esmoingt 1999 / Le "jeune Memnon": un colosse de Ramsès II nommé "Ousermaâtrê-Setepenrê-Aimé-d'Amon-Rê"; Aston et al. 2000 / Stone (p. 36); Strudwick 2006 / Masterpieces of Ancient Egypt (pp. 202- 203); MacGregor 2010 / A History of the World in 100 Objects (cat.no.20, pp.124-129); Garnett 2015 / The Colossal Statue of Ramesses II
Location: On display (G4/B9)
Exhibition history: Exhibited: 2010-2011, London, BM/BBC, 'A History of the World in 100 Objects'
Condition: good (incomplete - lower body and legs still in situ)
Associated names: Named in inscription & portrayed: Ramses II; Named in inscription: Amun-Ra
Associated objects: cast (EA90843,a); cast (EA90843,b)
Acquisition name: Donated by: Henry Salt; Donated by: Johann Ludwig Burckhardt
Acquisition date: 1817
Department: Egypt and Sudan
BM/Big number: EA19
Registration number: .19
Additional IDs: Miscellaneous number: ES.19

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