One of my favorite places, while visiting the city of Luxor, a plateau at the foot of the mountain range where he found Valley of the Kings and the Temple of Hatshepsut, a plateau surrounded by fields and private homes, but where are Colossi of Memnon. They rise some twenty meters in height, observing the Nile for centuries. Witnesses of the history of many rulers of Egypt still stand today and record everything that happens on that once pharaonic soil of Thebes.
They were built during the 18th dynasty of ancient Egypt by the pharaoh and the great ruler Amenhotep III, who ruled from 1391-1353 BC. They stand on the West Bank and each statue presents Amenhotep III himself. Although they appear to have been placed at a chosen location with their eyes closed, the colossi once had the function of protecting Amenhotep’s memorial temple. The temple was built during the life of the ruler and was worshiped there as a god, both during his life and after his death.
The statue itself depicts Amenhotep III in a sitting position, his hands resting on his knees overlooking the river and the east. The choice of the east is probably related to the side of the sunrise, since Amenhotep III was a worshiper of the god Amun. Two shorter figures engraved in the front throne at his feet are his wife Tiia and mother Muteviia. The side plates show the god of the Nile, Hapi.
The name of the statue, “Colossi of Memnon”, was created after the damage to the right, northern, statue in the earthquake. For some reason, after the damage, the statue would make strange sounds in the morning, most likely related to the sun’s heat. In search of an explanation of the sound, the ancient Greeks turned to Homer’s story of Memnon, according to which Memnon was executed by Achilles, and that after his death he reappeared in the statue of Thebes, after Zeus had given him immortality, and then every morning cried with the rising sun.
Before the construction of the dam in Aswan, the Nile seasonally flooded the land that surrounded it, which was of great importance for life and religion in the time of the pharaohs. The whole temple represents not only the mound, but also the exit of the world from the primordial waters of creation every time the river Nile floods the temple. The belief of the Egyptians went to the side that the Earth was created by a mound that emerged from the water.
Today, you can see the colossi of Memnon on a day trip to Luxor, and now you know how important they were during the reign of Amenhotep III.
