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Sandstone Stela of Ramesses II, 19th
Dynasty XIX, reign of Ramesses II, excavated by the Egypt Exploration Society in
the forecourt of the temple at Amarah West in Nubia in 1939.
This stela commemorates King Ramesses II's presentation of statues to a temple
of Amun-Re in Nubia. The precise arrangement of scenes and text symbolizes the
ancient Egyptians' conception of their highly structured state. Heaven appears
at the top, while beneath it are the sacred world of the gods, the text linking
the divine and human realms, and, at the bottom, the terrestrial home of the
Egyptian populace.
The stela's curved upper margin represents the vault of heaven separating the
ordered universe from chaos. Ma'at (universal order) governs everything below
the arc, whether depicted in the pictures or mentioned in the texts. The upper
register shows an event in the gods' domain: the presentation of symbols of
kingship to Ramesses II by Amun-Re, the principal god of Egypt during the New
Kingdom.
The five lines of text beneath this scene
stand between the worlds of gods and humans. Part of the text specifies the five
names Ramesses II used as ruler, emphasizing his more-than-human qualities. The
remainder recounts the king's many offerings to Egypt's temples.
The lowest register of the stela shows four
birds representing the Egyptian populace paying homage to the king.