Latest / Ramses the Great: Egypt's Most Powerful Pharaoh — Fexingo History / Ramses II's Statue of Truth
Transcript
- Lucas: For anyone stepping into history with us episode by episode, we’ve spent plenty of time discussing the grandeur of Ramses II—the temples, the treaties, the sheer scale of his building projects. But today I want to zoom in on something much quieter, something that feels almost intimate compared to the towering obelisks. Luna: A hidden statue? Lucas: Exactly. It’s a small bronze statue found in 1939, buried in a sealed cache at Tanis. It’s now known as the 'Statue of Truth,' and it’s got Ramses II standing there without any of his usual crowns or scepters. Just him, bare-headed, hands folded in front of him. Lucas: It’s striking because usually, when you see Ramses, he’s wearing the double crown, holding the crook and flail, looking like an invincible warlord. Here, he looks vulnerable. He’s looking down, not out at his enemies, but inward, perhaps in prayer. Luna: So no royal ego on display? Lucas: No ego, just devotion. The inscription on the base is key here. It’s a short text where he addresses Amun-Re directly, asking for protection and favor. It reads less like a decree and more like a personal plea. It’s one of the few times we hear his voice, literally, in his own words. Luna: Who found it? Lucas: The French archaeologist Pierre Montet uncovered it during excavations at Tanis. He was digging through a necropolis filled with treasures, mostly from the 21st Dynasty, but this statue was older, recycled and reburied later. It had been hidden away, perhaps to protect it from looters or political upheaval. Lucas: What’s fascinating is how this object contrasts with the propaganda we talked about earlier. At Karnak and Abu Simbel, Ramses is ensuring his immortality through stone and size. Here, he’s relying on Ma'at—truth and balance—and his relationship with the gods. It suggests a different side of his piety. Luna: Did priests commission it? Lucas: Probably. The style is very ritualistic. It might have been part of a cult statue for Amun-Re, meant to be carried in processions or kept in a shrine. The fact that it was cast in bronze makes it valuable and portable, unlike the massive granite blocks used for temples. Lucas: There’s also the detail of his posture. His feet are flat on the ground, stable, grounded. In Egyptian art, stance often communicates power or stability. Here, it’s a stance of readiness, of being open to divine influence. It’s a subtle shift from the rigid, eternal poses of his larger monuments. Luna: Is the face recognizable? Lucas: Yes, remarkably so. Even without the crown, the facial features are unmistakably Ramses II. The long chin, the slight smile, the heavy eyelids. It’s a portrait of an aging king, perhaps from the later years of his reign, when he was more focused on securing his legacy through religious means than military conquest. Lucas: Some scholars think this reflects the growing power of the priesthood of Amun. As the pharaohs’ military campaigns slowed, the temple elite gained more influence. Ramses might have been using these smaller, more personal devotional objects to maintain good relations with the powerful priestly class in Thebes. Luna: A political move disguised as piety? Lucas: In ancient Egypt, politics and religion were inseparable. Every act of piety was also an act of statecraft. By showing himself as the humble servant of Amun, Ramses reinforced his legitimacy. He wasn’t just a conqueror; he was the chosen one, the earthly embodiment of Horus, maintaining Ma'at against chaos. Lucas: The 'Statue of Truth' gives us a window into that complex interplay. It’s not just art; it’s a document of how power was negotiated in Kemet. The bronze itself tells a story too. Copper and tin were traded over vast distances, meaning this small statue represents a network of trade and resource management that sustained the empire. Luna: So even the metal has a story. Lucas: Precisely. And when Montet found it, it was wrapped in linen and placed carefully in a niche. It was treated with reverence, suggesting that even centuries after Ramses died, people still saw value in this image. It survived because it was hidden, protected from the iconoclasts who tore down statues of pharaohs they deemed unpopular. Lucas: Think about Akhenaten, for instance. After his death, many of his images were defaced. But Ramses II, despite some later resentment, largely escaped that fate. His name remained intact. This statue, buried quietly, might have been spared precisely because it showed him in such a humble light, less threatening to those who came after. Luna: Humility saved it? Lucas: Perhaps. Or maybe it was just luck. But the fact that it exists allows us to see Ramses not just as a monument, but as a man who worried about the gods. He knew his time was finite. The statue is a bridge between his mortal fears and his desire for eternal order. Luna: It feels very human. Lucas: That’s the gift of this small bronze. It strips away the gold and the granite and leaves us with the core idea: that even the most powerful man in the ancient world felt the need to bow down. Lucas: Before we wrap up, I want to mention something important about how this show exists. We don’t run ads, and we don’t have a big studio budget. A small group of listeners supports us monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that keeps the lights on and the research deep. Luna: It really helps keep the archive growing. Lucas: It does. If you’ve enjoyed these conversations, consider joining that support. It’s the best way to ensure we can keep digging into these stories without compromise. And if you’re already supporting, thank you—you’re keeping history alive. Luna: Thanks for listening, everyone. Lucas: Back to the statue for a second though. There’s a tiny crack near the left foot that hasn’t been fully repaired. Some say it adds character, but others wonder if it’s evidence of damage from its long burial. Luna: Does it change how you view the piece? Lucas: Not really. If anything, it reminds us that this object traveled through time. It was made, used, hidden, lost, and found. It’s survived the collapse of empires and the sands of Tanis. That fragility makes its survival feel even more miraculous. Lucas: We often think of Ramses II as eternal, carved in stone that will last forever. But this bronze statue is fragile, small, and easily broken. Yet it endured. Maybe that’s the real lesson—not just about the pharaoh, but about what we choose to preserve. Luna: Maybe the quiet things last longer. Lucas: Or maybe they’re just waiting to be found again. Next time, we’ll look at another forgotten corner of his reign, but for now, I’m glad we could sit with this small, silent king for a while.