Ramesses II sat between the god Amun and his consort the goddess Mut

This seated triad statue of king Ramesses II, sat between the deities, and immortal consorts Amun and Mut, is made from solid granite and comes from the Temple of Amun at Karnak, modern Luxor, and dates from c. 1279–1213 B.C. The three sit eternally in each other’s company, embracing as they smile ahead.

Ramesses, is clearly depicted the same size as the deities he is sat between. This is an indication of his immortal status, and possibly a reminder to the viewer of the power he held and still continues to hold in the Afterlife.

Mut was a primordial goddess, dating far back to the Egyptian creation myth, and her name literally translates to ‘mother’. She is the daughter of Ra and wife of Amun.

Amun, was a major deity in the Egyptian pantheon, and was later merged with Ra, to produce the deity Amun Ra, after the Egyptians, regained power from the Hyksos. Amun, or “the hidden one”, appears in the Pyramid Texts dating from the Old Kingdom, and became a tutelary deity, after the dispelling of the Hyksos, making him the so-called patron saint of Thebes along with his consort Mut.

Amun also had two other consorts, the feminine of his namesake Amunet, and Wosret, who was also the centre of a cult at Thebes. Interestingly enough, the Senwosret kings of the Middle Kingdom were named after her.

The triad seated statue is now on display in Turin, Italy at the Museo Egizio, Cat. 767.