Colossi of Memnon

The Colossi of Memnon (Arabic: el-Colossat or es-Salamat) are two large stone statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III, which stand at the front of the ruined Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III, the largest temple in the Theban Necropolis. They have stood since 1350 BC, and were well known to ancient Greeks and Romans, as well as early modern travelers and Egyptologists. The statues contain 107 Roman-era inscriptions in Greek and Latin, dated to between AD 20 and 250; many of these inscriptions on the northernmost statue make reference to the Greek mythological king Memnon, whom the statue was then erroneously thought to represent.

Scholars have debated how the identification of the northern colossus as "Memnon" is connected to the Greek name for the entire Theban Necropolis as the Memnonium.

Description

The twin statues depict Amenhotep III (fl. 14th century BC) in a seated position, his hands resting on his knees and his gaze facing eastwards (actually ESE in modern bearings) towards the river. Three shorter figures are carved into the front throne alongside his legs: these are his wife Tiye and mother Mutemwiya. The middle between Amenhotep III's ankles would have been an unidentified daughter, although it has been destroyed. The side panels depict the Nile god Hapi.

The statues are made from blocks of quartzite sandstone which was quarried at el-Gabal el-Ahmar (near modern-day Cairo) and transported 675 km (420 mi) overland to Thebes (Luxor). The stones are believed to be too heavy to have been transported upstream on the Nile. The blocks used by later Roman engineers to reconstruct the northern colossus may have come from Edfu (north of Aswan). Including the stone platforms on which they stand – themselves about 4 m (13 ft) – the colossi reach 18 m (60 ft) in height and weigh an estimated 720 tons each. The two figures are about 15 m (50 ft) apart. The size of the statues makes them visible up to over 10 miles away. Regarding their size; they stood as the guardians of Amenhotep III's mortuary temple. Amenhotep III's process of immortalizing himself in statuary was prevalent, His approach to statuary representation and inscriptions had supported his ideology as being much more than the king of kings. His titles repeatedly called him the "good god". Suzanne Bickel describes the height of both colossi were accessible to the surrounding public as a method of allowing all to worship Amenhotep III himself and the gods at his temple.

Both statues are quite damaged, with the features above the waist virtually unrecognizable. The southern statue comprises a single piece of stone, but the northern figure has a large extensive crack in the lower half and above the waist consists of 5 tiers of stone. These upper levels consist of a different type of sandstone, and are the result of a later reconstruction attempt, which William de Wiveleslie Abney attributed to Septimius Severus.