Ramses II visits Battersea

chirp54

10 minutes ago

3 min read

When in England, I usually like to explore things that are British, ie. National Trust sights, RHS gardens, historical sights, and museums. Yes, I know that much of what is found in museums originated in other places and much of that was looted from other cultures. That's one of the reasons that I find the British Museum has, indeed, lost its charm (nod to the Gershwins.) At any rate, having seen the posters, we decided to visit an exhibition in Battersea produced in partnership with Egypt's Supreme council of antiquities and the Egyption Museum called "Ramses and the Pharaohs' Gold."

Much of what is on display is only tangentially associated with Ramses, and is more of a primer on Egyptian history and life in the time of the Pharaohs. There was an abundance of beautiful jewelry, all the more impressive when you consider its age.

I learned that royalty was bedecked in gold when they were buried, not just because it was beautiful, but because gold was thought to be the skin of the gods and would protect the deceased as they journeyed through the underworld to paradise.

I found the juxtaposition of ancient artifacts with film, slides and audio quite interesting. I think the exhibition must have been designed to appeal to a younger crowd. There wasn't anything wrong with it, by the way, it just seemed a little "ancient egypt meets social media."

There was a lot of emphasis on Ramses II's prowess as a warrior. These tiles of prisoners represent the countries which were enemies of Egypt: Hittites, Nubians, Asians and Lybians.

Ramses massacring his enemies:

He fought alongside his father, Seti, as crown prince. Upon becoming Pharaoh, he commanded an army of 100,000. His absolute power and religious devotion are encapsulated in this sphinx, with the head of Ramses.

There was a film and display that told the story of the Battle of Kadesh. Fought around 1274 BCE, the Battle of Kadesh was a clash between the Egyptian Empire under Ramses II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatallis II to control vital trade routes in Syria, specifically the city of Kadesh. This conflict was the culmination of long-standing geopolitical rivalry, resulting in the largest known chariot battle, which ended in a stalemate and eventually the world's first recorded peace treaty. As told in the exhibition, Ramses II and the Egyptians come out quite a bit better than the Hittites.

Fragments displayed below were illustrated in place above.

I was happy, and not a little surprised, to see that the lives of women in ancient Egypt were addressed. Surviving legal texts reveal that unlike their Greek and Roman counterparts, Egyptian women were equal under the law, in theory if not always in practice. They could initiate court cases, inherit and buy land and other goods, and were held personally accountable for their actions. Most of the items representing women, however, were in the way of jewelry and personal items.