When the 19th-century poet Percy Shelley put pen to paper to write ‘Ozymandias’, he used the image of a shattered colossal statue to evoke the inevitability of decay, and the power of time to humble even the grandest of rulers. Famously, Shelley has an inscription on the statue pedestal declare ‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:/Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!’ The following words declare tellingly that ‘Nothing beside remains’. It is possible, though, that Shelley picked the wrong ruler with which to make his point. Both the essence of the inscription and the name ‘Ozymandias’ came from the work of the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus. The name itself was a corruption of a real one: User-Ma’at-Re. This means ‘Powerful one of the justice of Re’, which was one of the five royal names used by the Egyptian pharaoh that we know as Ramses II or Ramses the Great (sometimes also spelled ‘Ramesses’).
The colossal statue that inspired Shelley came from the Ramesseum – a monumental mortuary temple for the king that was built near Luxor – but it was far from being the only grandiose architectural project to bear the name and likeness of Ramses II. Instead, the pharaoh displayed a fondness for initiating his own great works, and also making his mark on those of his predecessors. The Great Sphinx in Giza, for example, was already ancient by the time of Ramses II, but still received a statue of the king set between its paws, and a stela naming him. When it comes to his own architectural projects, the Great Temple at Abu Simbel must rank as one of the most renowned today. This extraordinary edifice was carved into a cliff face and boasts a façade 33m high, which is dominated by four seated statues of the king that are each 20m tall. This willingness to make bold architectural statements means that there can be few if any rulers who remain so visible within their former dominion over 3,000 years after their death. The result, as the Egyptologist Zahi Hawass puts it, is that Ramses II – ‘a character like no other’ – has become ‘a unique symbol of the greatness of pharaonic Egypt.’
Great expectations
This point is powerfully made by a travelling exhibition entitled Ramses and the Pharaohs’ Gold, which is currently on show at NEON, Battersea Power Station, in London (see ‘Further information’ box below). This has assembled an extraordinary array of artefacts that shed light on the life and times of the pharaoh, alongside a selection of truly stunning objects associated with both earlier and later royal dynasties. As well as showcasing the skills of ancient Egyptian artisans, the exhibition successfully teases out something of the character of the king. It reveals that Ramses not only had a talent for self-promotion, but was also unafraid to buck convention. Part of this willingness to do things his own way may have flowed from his confidence in his own divinity. Most Egyptian kings were touched by godliness in the form of their role as the earthly manifestation of Horus. Alongside acting as the representative of the falcon god, Ramses II also viewed himself as divine in his own right. In the Great Temple of Abu Simbel – which was named ‘The House of Ramses, Beloved of Amun’ – the king is portrayed as the equal of other great Egyptian gods. There are surviving images, too, of individuals venerating statues of the king, including some of Ramses II making offerings to himself. When it came to making a lasting mark, Ramses II also had extraordinarily good fortune in terms of both the circumstances of his reign and the scope these presented.
