The mystery of the whereabouts of the pharaoh Ramses II’s painting in the tomb of an official named Nakhtamun, near Thebes (now Luxor), has been revealed. Photo/Plos One/Live Science
CAIRO – Mystery the existence of a painting of pharaoh Ramses II in the tomb of an official named Nakhtamun, near Thebes (now Luxor), has been revealed. Archaeologists used X-ray scans to reveal the paintings pharaoh Ramses II who reigned around 1279 BC to 1213 BC.
In the painting, the pharaoh Ramses II has a beard and is facing a figure whose features cannot be seen properly. This has led archaeologists to suspect that the painting shows Ramses II mourning the death of his father, Pharaoh Seti I (r. c. 1294 BC to 1279 BC).
However, using X-ray scans reveals something to the contrary that is not visible to the naked eye. Scanning is done portable X-ray fluorescence imaging (XRF), to determine the chemical composition of an object.
The team of archaeologists found that Ramesses II was actually facing Ptah, an ancient Egyptian god associated with artisans. “Scans show that Ramses II is standing under the canopy of the cult, while the figure enthroned in front of him is clearly the god Ptah, not his late father Seti I,” wrote the research team quoted by SINDOnews from the Live Science page, Thursday (13/7/2023).
The team also discovered that Ramses II was depicted with a prominent Adam’s apple. This is an interesting detail never shown in ancient Egyptian art.
In addition, the pharaoh Ramses II was originally depicted wearing what the ancient Egyptians called a “shebyu collar”. This ornament consists of several thick gold chains formed by large and heavy lenticular beads.
“This collar was popular in the 20th dynasty (circa 1186 BC to 1070 BC) but fell out of use during the reign of Ramesses II,” the archaeologist explained. According to researchers, the shebyu collar was repainted and replaced with a “wesekh” necklace, a flat piece of jewelery worn during the reign of Ramesses II.
2023-07-13 12:11:25
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