One of the most prominent symbols surrounding all sides of the seated statue of Ramses II is the cartouche. The cartouche can be described as an oval with a vertical line at one end that encloses the name of a pharaoh. The cartouche served as an identifier because it enclosed the five titularys of the king, including his nomen and pre nomen, which were sets of names that associated pharaohs with the gods (Silverman 2003: 113). The seated statue of Ramses II appears to only have four titled rather than five. The nomen for Ramses II can be found on the left, right, and back sides of the statue's throne area. The common pairing of a duck and sun symbol, are present above the second cartouche to the right. The duck and sun symbol translate to the title "Son …show more content…
Ancient Egyptian statues exude an image of grandeur because of the common conventions used by sculptors throughout time. A great deal of statues depicting gods and pharaohs are marked by their immense height. The stature of the seated statue of Ramses II is similar to nearly all other statues of sitting pharaohs. The subject of the statues is almost always looking out across the horizon, seated with a tall, straight back, and the palms of their hands rest on their knees (Sorouzian 2010: 855). Statues of Ramses II, just like the one at the Penn Museum, were prominent and relevant to ancient Egyptian society not only because of the pharaoh's dedication to building monuments of himself, but also because of ancient Egypt's love and respect for the great ruler. Ramses II's reign served as a blueprint for many pharaohs that followed. Eleven kings (Ramses II-XII, Ramses-Siptah, and Ramses-Psusennes) took on a version of Ramses II's name as a sign of reverence (Kitchen 2012). Unfortunately, even with a name change no king was ever able to accomplish as much as Ramses II.
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