The sarcophagus of Ramses II is displayed at the Grand Palais in Paris in May 1976. AFP
The sarcophagus of Ramses II is displayed at the Grand Palais in Paris in May 1976. AFP
The sarcophagus of Ramses II is displayed at the Grand Palais in Paris in May 1976. AFP
The sarcophagus of Ramses II is displayed at the Grand Palais in Paris in May 1976. AFP

Egypt's Ramses II sarcophagus in Paris for first time in 50 years


Kamal Tabikha
  • English
  • Arabic

The sarcophagus of Ramses II, one of ancient Egypt’s most prominent pharaohs, will return to Paris for the first time in 50 years to be displayed in a five-month exhibition that launches in April.

The elaborately decorated coffin will be placed alongside dozens of other ancient Egyptian relics as part of the touring Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs exhibition organised by the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

The exhibition will travel to San Francisco and Houston before heading to Paris and then Sydney. But the sarcophagus will only be shown on the Paris leg of the trip, which ends on September 6. It will then be flown back to Egypt.

The French embassy in Egypt said the rare loan of Ramses II’s sarcophagus was only allowed through a special exception made for France.

Dominique Farout, an Egyptologist who is the exhibition's scientific commissioner, told AFP that the exception was granted because France is where the sarcophagus and the mummy it once housed were treated for fungus when they were last on display there in 1976.

Though the mummy was also displayed back then, it will not be leaving Egypt for this year’s show because of amendments to the country’s antiquities law that prohibits its departure.

Egyptian ambassador Naguib Kadry and Egyptologist Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt at the exhibition at the Grand Palais in 1976. AFP
Egyptian ambassador Naguib Kadry and Egyptologist Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt at the exhibition at the Grand Palais in 1976. AFP

The wooden sarcophagus depicts Ramses laid on his back, dressed in bright colours with his arms crossed over his chest, a common funereal position for ancient Egyptian royals.

He is holding his sceptre in one hand and whip of office in the other.

The king’s eyes are outlined in black and the vivid colours on the coffin show clearly the stripes of his pharaonic headdress.

Ramses II’s first visit to Paris was a huge success, which the organisers are hoping to repeat.

Known as Ramses the Great, he is one of the most celebrated figures of ancient Egypt.

“I almost wept for joy that I would be seeing him again here when they told me he was coming to Paris,” Mr Farout said.

Alongside the sarcophagus, the exhibition will also include solid gold and silver jewels, statues, amulets, masks, other sarcophagi and mummified animal remains, which the law does allow to leave Egypt.

A 2019 exhibition in Paris displaying the treasures of another prominent ancient Egyptian pharaoh, King Tutankhamun, attracted 1.4 million visitors.

Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

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The figures behind the event

1) More than 300 in-house cleaning crew

2) 165 staff assigned to sanitise public areas throughout the show

3) 1,000 social distancing stickers

4) 809 hand sanitiser dispensers placed throughout the venue

if you go

The flights
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The trip
The cost of the Svaneti trip is US$2,000 (Dh7,345) for 10 days, including food, guiding, accommodation and transfers from and to ­Tbilisi or Kutaisi. This summer the TCT is also offering a 5-day hike in Armenia for $1,200 (Dh4,407) per person. For further information, visit www.transcaucasiantrail.org/en/hike/

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UK-EU trade at a glance

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Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

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F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

Updated: January 19, 2023, 11:02 AM`