Funerary Figurine of Ramesses II
Description
Object Label: Ramesses II, one of Egypt's mightiest pharaohs, left countless monuments throughout the Nile Valley. Ironically, however, his tomb in the Valley of the Kings at Thebes has yielded few funerary figurines (known as shabtis, shawabtis, or ushebtis, depending on the spelling in the text on the particular example), having been plundered in Dynasty XX and not yet completely excavated. This is one of only three wooden examples known. Inscribed with Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead, the text associated with funerary figurines, it resembles many fine statuettes from Deir el Medineh, the Theban home of the craftsmen who built and decorated the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Caption: Funerary Figurine of Ramesses II, ca. 1292–1190 B.C.E.. Wood, 12 1/2 x 3 7/16 in. (31.8 x 8.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 08.480.5. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano
Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
A carved standing royal/Osiride-style funerary figure with a nemes-like headdress and broad collar, holding a crook-and-flail posture-like gesture. The lower torso bears dense carved hieroglyphic inscriptions and decorative bands.
The image shows a full-height, dark-painted carved figure standing upright on a display plinth. The figure wears a striped nemes-style headdress/royal wig and a broad collar with layered horizontal bands. The arms are crossed over the chest holding a symbolic object posture (crook-and-flail elements are not fully clear), while the legs are wrapped in a kilt with alternating banding. The pedestal-like lower area includes large, tightly spaced hieroglyphs in multiple registers running down the front, suggesting a dedication or royal titulary. Background elements include painted wall art, but no readable text is present on the wall. The statue surface appears dark (possibly a coating) with lighter highlights; exact material composition is not directly verifiable from the image alone, though wood is consistent with a carved funerary figurine. No Greek, Coptic, or Arabic text is visible in the photo. Royal name/cartouche details are not legible enough to confirm a specific ruler.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 08.480.5 tier-2
- BKM-Object 3232 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.