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Colossi of Memnon
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== Description == The twin statues depict [[Amenhotep III]] ([[floruit|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.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=O'Connor |first1=David Bourke |title=Amenhotep III: perspectives on his reign |last2=Cline |first2=Eric H. |date=1998 |publisher=the University of Michigan press |isbn=978-0-472-10742-1 |location=Ann Arbor (Mich.)}}</ref> The side panels depict the Nile [[ancient Egyptian deities|god]] [[Hapi (Nile god)|Hapi]]. [[File:Antonio Beato, Colosses de Memnon, 19th century.jpg|thumbnail|left|[[Antonio Beato]], ''Colosses de Memnon'', 19th century. [[Brooklyn Museum]]]] The statues are made from blocks of [[quartzite|quartzite sandstone]] which was quarried at [[el-Gabal el-Ahmar]] (near modern-day [[Cairo]]) and transported {{convert|675|km|abbr=on|-1}} overland to [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] (Luxor). The stones are believed to be too heavy to have been transported upstream on the Nile.{{Page needed|date=March 2025}} 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 β themselves about {{convert|4|m|abbr=on}} β the colossi reach {{convert|18|m|abbr=on|-1}} in height and weigh an estimated 720 tons each.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Colossi of Memnon Revisited |journal= Science |publisher=[[Science (journal)|Science magazine]] |date=1973-12-21 |author=R. F. Heizer |author2=F. Stross |author3=T. R. Hester |author4=A. Albee |author5=I. Perlman |author6=F. Asaro |author7=H. Bowman |doi= 10.1126/science.182.4118.1219 |volume=182 |issue= 4118 |pages=1219β1225 |pmid=17811309|bibcode= 1973Sci...182.1219H |s2cid= 39052980 }}</ref><ref>"The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World", edited by Chris Scarre (1999) Thames & Hudson, London</ref><ref>Time Life Lost Civilizations series: Ramses II: Magnificence on the Nile (1993)</ref> The two figures are about {{convert|15|m|abbr=on|-1}} apart. The size of the statues makes them visible up to over 10 miles away.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Denon |first=Vivant |title=Voyage Dans La Basse Et La Haute Egypte |year=1802 |location=France |publication-date=1802 |pages=13 |language=French |trans-title=Travel to Lower and Upper Egypt}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kozloff |first=Arielle P. |title=Amenhotep III: Egypt's radiant pharaoh |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-01196-0 |location=Cambridge; New York}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Citation |title=The Birthplace of Amenhotep III |date=2012-02-20 |work=Amenhotep III |pages=16β20 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511997679.002 |access-date=2024-10-17 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/cbo9780511997679.002 |isbn=978-1-107-01196-0 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> 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]].<ref name=WdWA>[https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/abney1876/0020/image ''Thebes and its five greater temples ''], by [[William de Wiveleslie Abney]]; published 1876 by Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington; archived at the [[University of Heidelberg]]</ref> It is believed that originally the two statues were identical to each other, although inscriptions and minor art may have varied. The original function of the Colossi was to stand guard at the entrance to [[Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III|Amenhotep's memorial temple]] (or [[mortuary temple]]): a massive construct built during the pharaoh's lifetime, where he was worshipped as a god-on-earth both before and after his departure from this world. In its day, this temple complex was the largest and most opulent in [[Ancient Egypt]]. Covering a total of {{convert|35|ha}}, even later rivals such as [[Ramesses II]]'s [[Ramesseum]] or [[Ramesses III]]'s [[Medinet Habu (temple)|Medinet Habu]] were unable to match it in area; even the [[Temple of Karnak]], as it stood in Amenhotep's time, was smaller. [[File:Colossi of the Plain at Thebes, and Luxor beyond. (1847) - TIMEA.jpg|thumb|Colossi of Memnon, flooded plain]] [[File:Side panel of Colossi of Memnon 2015 2.JPG|thumb|Side panel detail showing two flanked relief images of the deity [[Hapi (Nile god)|Hapi]] and, to the right, a sculpture of the royal wife [[Tiye]]|alt=]]
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