Statue of Ramesses II, the 'Younger Memnon'

One of the largest pieces of Egyptian sculpture in the British Museum, this statue shows Ramesses II (EA19), who succeeded his father Seti I in around 1279 BCE and ruled Egypt for 67 years. Weighing 7.25 tons, this fragment of his statue was cut from a single block of two-coloured granite. The statue was retrieved from the mortuary temple of Ramesses II at Thebes (the 'Ramesseum') by the explorer and archaeologist Giovanni Belzoni in 1816.

The photograph shows the statue displayed on a pedestal of the British Museum in London, surrounded by vistors exploring the Egyptian antiquities in Room 4 on the ground floor.

External link to the Google Arts and Culture British Museum online collection.