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Mr Monkey in London, March 1st


"It's a shame I don't speak hieroglyphic, isn't it?"

Mr Monkey examining Ramesses II's head Mr Monkey looking at the sarcophagus of Nectanebo II

Mr Monkey found another rather large Egyptian carving. This is part of Ramesses II, who ruled Egypt for 67 years from 1279BC. It weighs 7¼ tons, came from the Ramesseum in Thebes, and apparently inspired Percy Bysshe Shelley to write Ozymandias. Then he studied the hieroglyphs on the side of the sarcophagus of Nectanebo II, the last Egyptian ruler of Egypt. This was never used as a sarcophagus, but someone in Alexandria did think it would make a good bath.

You can read about these exhibits by searching for ramesses shelley and nectanebo bath at the British Museum website, and about Shelley's poem at the Wikipedia.


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