Colossal Statue of Ramesses II

This colossal statue of Ramesses II, carved from a single granite block from Aswan, once stood at the entrance to his mortuary temple, the Ramesseum, in Thebes. Weighing 20 tonnes, it was hauled by sled and transported on a specially built Nile barge. Traces of pigment—black pupils, red skin, blue-and-yellow stripes on the nemes—hint at its original brilliance. One of Egypt’s most powerful pharaohs, Ramesses II (13th c. BC) built vast monuments to project divine kingship and imperial might.