Colossi of Memnon

The Colossi of Memnon

One of the important monuments in Luxor is the Colossi of Memnon. The Colossi of Memnon are dedicated to King Amenophis III. It is on the west bank of the Nile, west of the city of Luxor, in the ancient necropolis of Thebes. It is on the way to the Temple of Hatshepsut. For centuries, many legends and mysteries have surrounded the Colossi of Memnon and their sounds.

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The Story of the Colossi of Memnon

Amenhotep III was the 9th pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of the New Kingdom. The Colossi of Memnon are two giant statues representing Amenophis III. They were built by the architect Amenhotep son of Hapu, on the order of Amenophis III in the 14th century to protect the Funerary Temple of Amenophis III, which was 35 hectares and in his day was the largest building in all of Egypt and more significant than the Karnak temple.

This Temple was built with adobe and had many statues and monuments. In 1200 BC C., the entire Temple was destroyed, and its walls, figures, and decorations were missing. Later, pharaohs used the adobe from their Temple ruins to build mortuary temples.

Most of them were used during Merenptah’s reign to develop his mortuary Temple. These statues are the only ones left of this Temple. The annual Nile floods damaged the sculptures, and in 27 BC, they were destroyed by an earthquake. This earthquake caused cracks in the two figures, which caused a sound at dawn. Later the Colossi became a place of pilgrimage for the Romans and Greeks.

Construction of the Colossi of Memnon

These statues depict King Amenophis III seated on his throne with his hands on his knees, wearing the royal headdress of Nemes, facing the Nile. The figures were built with quartzite from the quarries of Al-Jabal Al-Ahmer (the mountain red), near Heliopolis, northeast of Cairo, 675 km from Luxor.

They were transferred by a boat (consisting of 8 ships linked together) from the construction site to Luxor ”Thebes”. The Colossi are 14 m high and weigh 700 tons. Its pedestals are 4 m high and weigh 700 tons. In total, they measure 18 m high and 1300 tons. Their original height was 21 m, but they lost some parts of their heads.

Next to the statues’ legs are two small statues representing his mother, Mutemuia (next to the left), and his wife, Tiy (next to the right leg). On the statues’ three are hieroglyphic inscriptions and symbols of the god Hapi (god of the Nile).