Ramesses II's mummy was never issued a passport — that's a myth.

1250 BC · 1976 · apart: 3226 years

Flown to Paris for conservation in 1976, it was met with full military honours; the story probably grew from 'passeport', the word for its stack of paperwork.

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The event

• Temples of Abu Simbelc. 1264 BC · Abu Simbel, Nubia. Ramesses II, who ruled Egypt for 66 years, had two temples with colossal statues of himself carved into a Nubian cliff. In the 1960s they were cut into blocks and moved uphill to escape the Aswan Dam reservoir in a landmark UNESCO rescue.

13th century BC · 20th century

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