
Artist's commentary
Ramesseum
With a few exceptions, it was believed that the pharaohs that ruled ancient Egypt would, after death, ascend to the throne of the gods, and thus they were buried with the Book of the Dead. Many of them claimed to be the descendants of the god Horus, and ascended to the throne.
But in life, this powerful pharaoh claimed to be a god, and for the thirty third anniversary of his rule he named himself "Ra, the one born of a god."
He supervised the construction of new monuments within the country, and sometimes even dictated the construction personally.
Not only that, he altered the old monuments and statues to make them his own as well.
In the last thirty years of his reign, he built many different temples throughout Egypt, disregarding the fact that many had different building styles.
It's possible that...
By drawing the world of the gods closer to this world, he aimed for the unification of both worlds.