This smooth, simple, light-coloured timber coffin was once the final resting place for Ramses the Great. It is displayed standing upright. The coffin is without embellishment. Once it would have been covered in gold, but this has been removed.
Its most striking feature is the face: two bright white eyes stare straight at us. They are heavily outlined in black, with black irises, and strong black eyebrows. The carved mouth is full lipped and the expression is placid. He wears the headdress typical for royal caskets. In outline it's a triangle, with the base as wide as the shoulders, and the apex folded away out of sight at the top of the head. It’s not unlike an old-fashioned nurse’s veil. The headdress has two large flaps which drape behind the ears, and trail down to lie flat over each shoulder. At the front of the headdress, on his brow, a wooden cobra faces forward, poised ready to strike anyone who should do the Pharaoh harm.
The king also wears the “divine beard”, to indicate he is now a god in the afterlife. It is narrow, stiff, and rectangular, a darker colour than the coffin, and carved with a pattern of V shaped chevrons. Its short side is half the width of his mouth, and the long side about as long as his face. It is tied on (the ties to the ears are visible), and hangs from under the chin.
The Pharaoh has crossed arms and holds a crook and flail tucked under his chin. These emphasise his identity as king of Egypt.
In the central part of the coffin the smooth timber finish is marked by a block of delicate black ink inscriptions and texts, about the size of a man’s hand. Two cartouches give the birth name and throne name of Ramses II. Two heavily faded and partly erased additional texts are underneath these.