Retour à l'article .
[1] Porter and Moss, 1972 : 431-443 and Pls XLI-XLII ; Stadelmann, 1984 : 91-97.
[2] Many inscriptions refer to year 1, for example : the burial of Sety I (third month of the first season) and the feast of Opet ; great stela at Silsileh; inscription in the embrasure of the great temple at Abou Simbel, in Theban tomb 157 of Nebunenef at Thebes, in the temple of Sety I at Abydos. In the year 2, voyage to the Gebel Silsileh. In the year 3, completion of the first pylon at Luxor. See Schmidt, 1973.
[3] On the jars bearing inscriptions found at the Ramesseum, the inscriptions go from year 2 to year 58. See Spiegelberg, 1898.
[4] The oldest known date is year 67, mentioned in a document from the XXth Dynasty.
[5] David, 1996 : 38-45. Some historians situate the beginning of the reign in 1290. At sunrise on day 27 of the third month of shomu (June) Ramesses II acceded to the throne.
[6] For between 5 to 10 years. Murnane, 1977 : 57-85.
[7] "Strong in Right is Ra, Chosen of Ra".
[9] Against this idea, Hamilton, Letronne, Mariette, Bataille; in favor, Champollion : "Its as simple as this. Either the monument described by Hecataeus under the name of monument of Osymandias is the same as the western Rhamesséion at Thebes, or the Rhamesséion is only a vile copy, if we can say so, of the monument of Osymandias"; Maspéro, Kees, Gardiner, Derchain, Haeny. See Leblanc, 1985 : 69-82 and Pls. I-VI.
[10] Sicard, 1725. Voyage between 1712 and 1721. For him the tomb of Osymandias corresponded to Karnak.
[12] Norden, 1741, 1795 and 1800.
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frownAnd wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed;And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair !"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
[17] J.-B. Jollois (engineer) and E. de Villiers du Terrage (surveyor).
[18] Burton calls it Kasr el Dakaky.
[19] Kanawaty, 1991 : 72-90 and Pls. XII-XIV.
[20] Champollion, letter from Thebes, 18th June 1829. He had a predilection for this monument which, before him, was called Memnonium or tomb of Osymandias. Champollion considered it to be the most noble and the finest monument at Thebes. He read on an architrave in the hypostyle hall that Ramesses ordered this construction in honour of his father Amon-Râ.
[21] Harlé, 1991 : 67-69 and Pls. VIII-XI.
[24] Hölscher, 1941 : 22-25, 71-82.
[25] Leblanc, 1996 : 185-211 and Pls. L-LVII ; Postel, 1996 : 45-71.
[26] In the second month of shomu (April). Another important, the feast of Opet, was celebrated in the second month of the flooding (Septembre) and it lasted three weeks.
[27] To facilitate the presentation of the monument we will consider that the monument is orientated east-west.
[28] These men must not be considered as architects proper but, rather, as supervisors of the construction. They were, as they are, above all, high-ranking military officers.
[31] Ramsses II marked the following inscription on an architrave in the hypostyle hall of his temple : "Build up supplies in the foodstores until they reach the sky, let the treasurestore be filled with electrum, gold, royal linnen, and all sorts of precious stones..."
[32] Goyon, El-Achirie, Fonquernie et al., 1976.
[33] There were also gardens attached to the temple. Tomb 138, Cheikh Abd el Gurnah of Nedjemger, director of the gardens. (The gardens may have been situated to the south-east of the temenos. Nelson, 1991.
[34] In the necropolis located at Cheikh Abd el Gurnah the tomb of Neferronpet, head of the weaving workshops, has been identified (Tomb 133).
[35] Grain farmers 8760 + goatherds 13080 + fowl keepers 22430 + donkey keepers 3920.
[38] Tia, who had married the sister of Ramsses II Tia.
[39] Access to the temple proper was restricted to people who had been initiated into one of the priestly grades.
[40] The canal brought vessels inland from the Nile.
[42] The south wall of the first court is also the façade of the king's palace.
[43] A representation of the window of appearence can be seen in the tomb of Nebunenef.
[44] Leblanc, 1994 : 71-101 and Pls. XVI-XX.
[45] On the wall there are fragments of the peace pact with the Hittites.
[46] Leblanc, 1980 et Leblanc and El-Sayed Ismaïl, 1988.
[47] The army was divided into four groups : Amun, Ra, Ptah and Seth.
[48] Maher-Taha and Loyrette, 1979.
[49] Goyon and El-Achirie, 1973.
[50] Sadek, 1991 : 135-141 and Pls. XXXIII.
[51] Goyon and El-Achirie, 1974.
[52] Kadesh the Kuza Hittite - which is now Tell Nebi Mend (Laodicea). The military campaign began in the year V, the second month of the summer season, the 9th day. A Hittite attack took place on the 9th day of the third month of the summer season. This battle was not decisive, the town was not captured. The battles continued for several years. Askalon was besieged in the year VI or VII, and Ramsses II invaded Galilée in the year VIII and captured the towns of Tunip and Dapur. King Muwatallis died in the year 1288. As neither side was capable of a military victory, a status quo came about which would become a peace pact in the year 21, 16 years later, under Hattusil. A peace treaty was signed in year 21, the 25th day of the first month of winter : a pact of non-aggression, a defensive alliance, reciprocal assistance in order to assure succession. The text is engraved in cuneiform characters, on silver plates which were kept in Hattusa - the Hittite capital - and in the temple of Ra at Heliopolis. Clay copies were found by archaeologists at Hattusa. Following this peace accord, in the year 34, Ramsses II married a Hittite princess, Ma'athornefrura. 26 letters which were exchanged between the sovereigns have been found. The queens also corresponded ; Pudukhepa, Nefretari (Noptera) and Tuya and also the vizier Pasar.
[53] Abdel-Hamid Youssef, Leblanc and Maher-Taha, 1977.
[54] Another version was also found at Karnak.
[55] and then in 34, 36 or 37, 40, 42, 44?, 50, 53... See Habachi, 1971 : 64-72, who lists fourteen heb-seds and gives their years : 30, 34, 37, 40, 46, 49, 52, 55, 58, 61, 62, 64 and 66.
[56] Three lists in the main temple and probably one in the temple of Tuya. Leblanc et Mohamed Fekri, 1991 : 91-108 and Pls. XV-XXII.
[57] Barbotin and David, 1997 : 97.
[58] Gauthier, 1914 : 80-113 gives the names of 51 princes and 63 princesses.
[60] Desroches Noblecourt, 1991 : 25-46 and Pls. III-VI; 1996 : 213-221.
[62] Diodorus relates that Cambyse, among the many thefts he committed, robbed the temple of the grand golden circle which was 365 egyptian cubits in diametre and which perched on the top of the temple. G. Goyon, 1976.
[63] Dossiers d'archéologie, mars 1999 ; Barbotin and Leblanc, 1999.
[64] Carter, 1901 : 193-195 and Pls. I-II.
[66] In the scientific collection of the CEDAE.
[67] Lecuyot, Loyrette and Nelson, 1990 : 88-95.
[69] Aufrère, 1982 : 27-39 and Pl. VI ; F. Hassanein, 1982 : 40-44 and Pl. VII.
[70] For example, one with the inscription : "The Osiris Imset protects the mistress of the house, the venerable 'nh-t3-s-hrt-, the daughter of the priest Hr-s3-Ist".
[71] Lecuyot, 1991 : 109-118 and Pls. XXVI-XXIX.
[72] A cultural association founded in accordance with the French law of the 1st July 1901. Registered office : Résidence Saint Éloi I, 173 rue de Charenton 75012 Paris France.
[73] The study was carried out by the engineers of the archaeological department of the University of Cairo, in association with the engineering laboratory of "l'Ecole des Mines" in Nancy.
[74] The team in charge of this operation is the "Laboratoire des Ponts et Chaussées" from the University of Tours.
[75] Lecuyot, 1994 : 103-114 and Pls. XXI-XXII.
[76] Loyrette and Nasr, 1994 : 115-127 and Pls. XXIII-XXVI.
[77] Kalos, Nelson and Leblanc, 1996 : 69-82 and Pls. XV-XXIV.
[78] Lecuyot and Loyrette, 1995 : 85-93 and Pls. XIII-XVI; 1996 : 112-122 and Pls. XXX-XXXIII.
[79] The Centre for the Restoration, Study and Treatment of Works of Art at Avignon.