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The sarcophagus or coffin of the pharaoh Ramses II, the ruler of Ancient Egypt, will be brought to Paris, France, for an exhibition. Photo/REUTERS/Aladin Abdel Naby
PARIS – Sarcophagus pharaoh Ramses II will return to Paris in April for the first time in nearly 50 years. The rare Ancient Egyptian relic was loaned to France for exhibition.
The Egyptian ruler’s coffin will be on display in the French capital from April 7 to September 6. The treasures left by the pharaoh Ramses II were displayed in an exhibition in San Francisco and will end up in Sydney—without the sarcophagus.
“I almost cried with joy that I would see him here again when they told me he was coming to Paris,” said Dominique Farout, an Egyptologist at the prestigious Ecole du Louvre school of art history who is scientific commissioner for the exhibition.
“I was 16 years old in 1976 when Ramses II was last in Paris,” Farout added, as quoted by AFP, Friday (13/1/2023). “I have a big poster in my room. I went eight times in a row.”
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Farout said the Egyptian authorities had made an exception in lending the yellow cedar sarcophagus to France. It doesn’t travel to San Francisco and won’t be included as the rest of the fair packs up and heads to Sydney.
The gesture marked gratitude to Paris, where scientists preserved Ramses II’s mummy by treating it of mold when it was exhibited in 1976.
This time, the sculptural coffins will be shown empty, as Egyptian law now prohibits the transport of royal mummies abroad.
It depicts a recumbent king in bright colors with his arms crossed over his chest holding the scepter and whip of his office.
His eyes were outlined in black, he wore a striped pharaoh’s headdress and a braided false beard.
