He is the treasure of the exhibition. The one everyone wants to see. In a subdued room, the wooden sarcophagus of Ramses II is revealed. “It was a chest that allowed Ramses to pass through much of the time. explains Bénédicte Lhoyer, Egyptologist. “It remained inside for 2,800 years until it was discovered in 1881.” The coffin made the trip without the pharaoh’s mummy, Egyptian law prohibiting it.
To better understand the exhibition of this object, we must go back to 1976. At that time, the mummy of Ramses was badly damaged. Eaten away by mushrooms, the sovereign, who is over 3,000 years old, is treated as quickly as possible with X-rays. “France had welcomed Ramses to save him. Theoretically, the coffin was never supposed to come back. Egypt gives us this gift to crown this exhibition”, continues Bénédicte Lhoyer.
Jewellery, statues, silver coffin, animal mummies… The exhibition brings together 180 exceptional objects, some of which are visible for the first time outside of Egypt. This exhibition event returns in particular to the reign of Ramses, a monarch builder who reigned 67 years over ancient Egypt.
“Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs” is open to the public at the Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris from April 7 until September 6, 2023.
The rest of the testimony of Bénédicte Lhoyer, Egyptologist, can be found in the video placed at the top of this article…