Ramses II was the third king of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. He is considered a wise and martial emperor with a great reputation of the New Kingdom era, who led the Egyptian people to march to neighboring countries to enhance the country’s power and position. On the day of his death, he was buried in the Valley of the Kings, near the west bank of the Nile River.

The Valley of the Kings is the burial place of the Egyptian emperor.

British explorer Tony Robinson said: “Ramses sat firmly on the throne for more than 60 years, his reputation engraved deeper in our hearts than any other pharaoh. He was the one who completed Karnak Temple with extremely impressive architecture: 134 pillars over 24 meters high. This magnificent structure also has a sandstone roof to protect it from harsh sunlight. These stones come from mines in the Gebel el-Silsila region.”

Ramses II was a king with strategic talent.

In 1821, Ramses II was discovered buried in the Valley of the Kings. However, his body was not preserved in the old crypt. Robinson said: “I didn’t come here to study the temple, my goal was the huge tombs. Looking from Luxor, across the river is the Valley of the Kings, where Ramses rested. However, in 1881, his mummy was discovered outside the original tomb. It is one of the best preserved pharaoh mummies.”

Many believe that Ramses II’s body was moved to the royal tomb number TT3BO, located next to Deir el-Bahri in the Theban necropolis, opposite the modern city of Luxor. This is also where High Priest Amun Pinedjem II and his relatives rest in peace. In addition to mummies, this mausoleum also preserves the burial objects of more than 50 kings, queens and royal relatives of the New Kingdom.

His mummy was virtually undamaged.

The architecture of the vault also gives archaeologists a headache. Robinson shared: “Antonio Morales is the leader of the research team that excavated Ipi’s tomb. About 700 years before Ramses reigned, Ipi served as Prime Minister and assistant to the pharaoh. Looking at this mausoleum is enough to see that his position at that time was very great. The last time archaeologists visited here was nearly 100 years ago. They just circled the catacombs for a few days, then left. There are so many things they missed.”

He added: “The mausoleum’s architecture really surprised us. It spreads over 40 meters towards the mountain and continues down to about 20 meters further down. After Ipi’s funeral, no one knew about the secret room containing the Prime Minister’s body, which is where the archaeological team is standing. Ipi’s body was once placed in this giant stone coffin. But we couldn’t find much research material, because his mummy went missing 4,000 years ago.”