Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs at de Young Museum — Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

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Funerary mask of Wendjebauendjed
Egyptian, Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty 21
Gold, alabaster, and glass, 8 x 7 x 6 in. (20.3 x 17.8 x 15.2 cm)
Egyptian Museum, Cairo
JE 87753, SR 1/10013
Photograph by Sandro Vannini
Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs

August 20, 2022 – February 12, 2023

Ramses II, known as Ramses the Great, was the most celebrated and powerful pharaoh of the New Kingdom—Egypt’s golden age. Believed to be a god on Earth, he ruled for 67 years as part of the 19th Dynasty, erecting enormous temples, obelisks, and statues and expanding Egypt’s empire. This state-of-the-art exhibition features the greatest collection of Ramses II objects and Egyptian jewelry ever to travel to the United States. Along with the pharaoh's colossal royal sculpture, the exhibition highlights recently discovered animal mummies and treasures from the royal tombs of Dahshur and Tanis.

Visitors can walk among towering statues and immerse themselves in multimedia productions that re-create moments from Ramses’s life, including his triumph at Kadesh, the largest chariot battle ever fought. An optional virtual reality experience, Ramses & Nefertari: Journey to Osiris, offers a breathtaking tour of two of Ramses’s most impressive monuments: Abu Simbel and Nefertari’s tomb.

Click the image below to watch Introduction to Ramses The Great.

de Young Museum

50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr, San Francisco, CA 94118

 

Exhibition Preview

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Lid from the hawk-headed coffin of Sheshonq II
Egyptian, Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty 22
Silver; H 35 x L 207 cm
Cairo, Egyptian Museum
JE 72154, SR 1/8279
Photograph by Sandro Vannini
Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

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Falcon-headed collar and counterweight of Princess Neferuptah
Egyptian, Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12
Gold, carnelian, and feldspar, 14 1/2 in. (36.8 cm)
Egyptian Museum, Cairo
JE 90199, SR 3/11272
Photograph by Sandro Vannini
Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

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Heset ewer inscribed for Ahmose I
Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18
Gold, 5 3/4 in. (14.5 cm)
Egyptian Museum, Cairo
JE 85895
Photograph by Sandro Vannini
Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

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Collar of Psusennes I
Egyptian, Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty 22
Gold, lapis lazuli, carnelian, and feldspar, 10 in. (25.5 cm)
Egyptian Museum, Cairo
JE 85752, SR 1/8418
Photograph by Sandro Vannini
Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

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Outer coffin of Sennedjem with lid on a wooden sledge
Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 19
Wood, pigment, and plaster, 52 x 36 1/4 x 101 1/2 in. (132 x 92 x 258 cm)
Egyptian Museum, Cairo
JE 27301.1, SR 4/4276.1, JE 27301.2, SR 4/4276.2
Photograph by Sandro Vannini
Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

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Head of a colossal statue of Ramses II
Egyptian, Memphis, temple of Ptah, New Kingdom, Dynasty 19, reworked from a Middle Kingdom king
Red granite, 90 1/2 x 28 1/8 x 41 ¾ in. (230 x 71.5 x 106 cm)
Egyptian Museum, Cairo
CG 643, SR 4/13520
Photograph by Sandro Vannini
Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

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Upper part of a colossal of Ramses II
Egyptian, Ashmunein, New Kingdom, Dynasty 19
Limestone, 76 3/4 x 27 1/2 x 33 1/2 in. (195 x 70 x 85 cm)
Egyptian Museum, Cairo
JE 87299
Photograph by Sandro Vannini
Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

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Bracelet of Sheshonq II with Eye of Horus
Egyptian, Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty 22
Gold, lapis lazuli, carnelian, and faience, 1 3/4 x 2 3/4 in. (4.5 x 7 cm)
Egyptian Museum, Cairo
JE 72184-A, SR 1/8323a
Photograph by Sandro Vannini
Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Installation views of Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs

Installation view images provided by World Heritage Exhibitions.