Merenptah was the thirteenth son and successor of Ramesses II, coming to the throne already in his sixties. He is best known for defending Egypt against Libyan and Sea Peoples invasions, and for the Merneptah Stela, which contains the earliest known mention of Israel.
This statue group shows the king together with the goddess Mut, consort of Amun and mother goddess of Thebes, whose embrace expresses divine protection of the king.
The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat, Cairo, opened in 2021 and traces Egyptian civilization from prehistory to the present; it is also home to the royal mummies moved from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square.
