This article is from Ancient Egypt issue 144
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A fragment of inscribed granite found at Abydos in 2009 belonged to the sarcophagus of Ramesses II, according to new research published in Revue d’Égyptologie. The piece was found beneath the floor of a Coptic monastery and identified (Damrani and Cahail 2017) as a piece from a sarcophagus of an unknown prince. The sarcophagus had been looted in antiquity and reused several times, the last owner being Menkheppera, a Twenty-first Dynasty High Priest of Amun. However, French Egyptologist Frédéric Payraudeau was able to take a closer look at the overwritten cartouche and discovered the throne name of Ramesses II – Usermaatra – hidden underneath the later carving.
Text: Sarah Griffiths
