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Pharaoh Ramses II's sarcophagus unveiled in Paris

Timothy Jones
April 6, 2023

The coffin of one of Ancient Egypt's most famous rulers is in France on a rare trip abroad. Ramses II, who reigned in the 13th century BC, was highly productive in more ways than one.

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The sarcophagus of Ramses II, showing a wooden depiction in relief of the king with arms crossed
Ramses II is considered possibly the greatest pharaoh of the New Kingdom Image: Sabine Glaubitz/dpa/picture alliance

The ornate sarcophagus of one of Ancient Egypt's most well-known and long-reigning pharaohs, Ramses II, was unveiled to reporters in Paris on Thursday.

The coffin will be on public display in the Grande Halle de la Villette from April 7 to September 6 as part of a wider exhibition about the pharaoh that is also to visit the United States and Australia.

However, France will be the only country to receive the sarcophagus. The honor has been bestowed because of the assistance given by French scientists in saving Ramses' mummy from decay in the wake of a previous visit to Paris in 1976.

The mummy itself is not traveling with its sarcophagus this time, however, as Egyptian law no longer allows royal mummies to be transported abroad.

Displays from the Ramses II exhibition in Paris
The full immersive exhibition has 181 objects from the kingdom of Ramses IIImage: Aurelien Morissard/AP/picture alliance

Who was Ramses II?

Ramses II, whose name in Greek is Ozymandias, as used in the famous sonnet of the same name by English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, ruled Egypt from around 1279 BC till his death in 1213 BC, probably aged 90 or 91.

He was commonly called "Ramses the Great." His long reign was marked by major military conquests and monumental construction projects, including the temple complex of Abu Simbel and the new capital of Pi-Ramesses. 

Alongside these projects, he is also thought to have fathered more than 100 children.

After his death, his body was moved three times from 1070 BC, after his tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor was pillaged by grave robbers.

Its final resting place was discovered almost three thousand years later in 1881, just as it, too, was being pillaged.

His mummy is now on display at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo.

Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher