Amenmesse succeeded Merneptah as pharaoh but few monuments can be attributed to him. He may have been a grandson of Ramesses II but seems to have usurped the throne from the legitimate successor Seti II. For many years, this fine head of a king wearing the blue crown was thought to be a portrait of Ramesses II. In the late 1970s, however, it was matched to the body of a statue of Amenmesse that still stands in the hypostyle hall of the temple of Karnak at Thebes. Most of his statues, including this one, were reinscribed after his short reign by Seti II.

Open full-size image