Cairo’s Egyptian Museum completes restoration and relocation of Ramesses II basalt stele

A black basalt stele of Ramesses II has received a new display in Cairo after the Egyptian Museum completed restoration and relocation work on the artifact.

The stele measures about 240 centimeters long and 110 centimeters wide. It dates to Egypt’s New Kingdom, roughly 1570 to 1069 BCE, and had been displayed at the museum for more than a century. The artifact was originally found in two pieces, which an earlier restoration joined together.

The latest work formed part of the museum’s new display plan. Officials removed materials used in the previous restoration, along with the wooden panel that had supported the stele. The restoration team treated the joints between the two fragments and placed the artifact in a free-standing display with panoramic lighting designed to bring out its details.

Museum Director-General Ali Abdel Halim rejected claims circulating on social media that cement had been used in the conservation work. He said cement had not been used at any stage and that the online photographs were taken while the restoration was still underway. They therefore, he said, “do not reflect its final condition.”

The restored stele now stands between two other stelae depicting Ramesses II, also known as Ramesses the Great. The article notes that many people identify him with the pharaoh in the biblical story of the Exodus. It also refers to a separate discovery in Egypt of a Ramesses II inscription linked to restoration work involving a statue of Horus, Lord of the City of Mesn.

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do not reflect its final condition