In the final room of the exhibition, a white limestone torso from a Colossus of Ramses the Great stands two metres tall, mounted up high on a plinth about another metre tall. He is a towering presence, dominating the room. The statue is broken at the top of the legs, which are missing. The white limestone shows signs of wear and weather: cracks, marks and accumulated dirt in crevices.
The king’s posture is rigid. He stands straight, facing forward, arms hanging by his side. His eyes, nose and generous lips are all smoothly carved, giving him a calm, serene appearance. He holds a flattened cylinder in each hand, which is probably a document case for holding papyrus scrolls. The hands are incomplete and broken off at the base of the fingers.
His body is slim and muscular, with strong arms that each have one of his cartouches engraved on the upper bicep. He has a well-developed chest, a slim waist and tight abdomen. Viewed from the front, his torso is square in silhouette, due to his straight, strong arms. This outline is counterbalanced by the line of his inner arm, that sweeps in a subtle curve from his underarms in to his waist and out again to his hips.
He wears a diadem on his brow, and the royal uraeus-cobra sits on the front of his triangular pharaoh’s headdress, for protection. The headdress has stripes carved into the limestone. His tie-on beard hangs under the chin, and is as long as the flaps on his headdress. The beard flicks up slightly at the tip.
His upper body is bare. He is clothed from the waist down in a shendyt, a wraparound short skirt belted at the waist and pleated in the front. The pleats appear as closely spaced rays fanning out from the belt at the waist, which is ornamented heavily with carved decorations, and has a front fastening like a belt buckle.
On two huge screens behind the colossus is a film about the impact of Ramses today and includes footage of the Pharaohs' Golden Parade, an event held in Cairo on 3 April 2021. Twenty-two mummies belonging to Kings and Queens of the New Kingdom, including Ramses II, were moved from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square (which was becoming overcrowded) to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat.