Ramesses II Seated between Amun and Mut

The inscription on this granite group names Ramesses II, and the museum dates it to his reign, from 1279 to 1213 BC. The king sits between the god Amun and his wife, the goddess Mut, and the three hold one another by the arms and shoulders. It was found in 1818 in the eastern part of Karnak, the great temple complex of Amun at Thebes.

In 2022 three Egyptologists, Silvana Cincotti, Simon Connor and Hourig Sourouzian, took a closer look. Several parts are separate pieces of granite fitted in later. Amun's face is an insert set in with plaster, so are his knees, and Mut's left arm is held by a dowel. Other details belong to an earlier age, the slender legs, the king's chin without a beard, and an embrace that is common in the 18th Dynasty, with only one known example from the 19th.

They weigh two explanations. Either this is an older group, damaged when images of Amun were attacked under Akhenaten, then repaired and given Ramesses' name, or it was carved under Ramesses and mended after an accident. The damage falls on the god's face, knees and hand and on the goddess's arm, the places those attacks usually struck, and the authors lean towards the first answer while leaving the question open. The seams around Amun's face and knees are still visible, and his beard is lost.