On the western edge of Luxor, in Wadi al-Hitman, there are two colossi of Memnon that stand alone. Two weathered statues of people are standing guard at the front gate of the cemetery. You are looking at what is left of the Amenhotep III tomb temple, which was the most famous one in the Necropolis.
It led to the Medina Habu from the Ramesseum. With the spans, things will be different for the first time in 3200 years, since an earthquake destroyed the temple. With the help of the Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III project, it is possible that the lost temple could be built again.
The once-majestic temple of Pharaoh Amenhotep III is now just a bunch of stones, sculptures, and parts spread out across the landscape. Three of the original towers still stand, but the statues and stelae that used to be in the temple’s many courtyards are gone.
During the pharaoh’s rule in the early 14th century BC, it took 38 years to build the temple. After 150 more years, in 1200 BC, an earthquake destroyed it. After the quarry was closed, most of the blocks and decorative pieces were used in temples and other buildings nearby. Over time, the Nile’s sediments covered up what was left of the temple.
In the 19th century, collectors went to the site and found sculptures of pharaohs, minor gods, and the goddess Sekhmet. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Egyptian Antiquities Service was the first to look into the area.
With the help of the Swiss Institute, more research was done in 1964 and 1970. The temple hasn’t been taken care of in a long time, so it’s been left alone. This has led to flooding, plant growth, and the possibility of theft or vandalism.
New giant:
In 1998, a plan was made to put the broken statues back inside the walls of the temple. During 16 seasons of archaeology, the artefacts were carefully dug up and put away for study in the future. The shape of the beautiful temple slowly took shape. In 2014, there were more discoveries that could be seen by the public. The first of the newly found colossi was seen by visitors at the second temple tower, which is about 100 metres west of the Memnon colossi.
In the statue, Amenhotep III is sitting on the throne with his hands on his knees. The red quartzite that was used to build it was found in nature. The giant’s kilt is wrapped around his waist and held in place with a zigzag-shaped belt. To the right of the statue of the pharaoh is a statue of his wife, Queen Taya.
She was dressed in long, tight clothes and wore a thick wig. A statue of his mother, King Simatawa, that was standing by his left foot has disappeared. Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt are shown on each side of the throne.
After repairs, the body of the 250-ton statue was put back in place, but this time on reinforced concrete pedestals. The head of the colossus, which weighed 16 tonnes, was lifted up and bolted to the statue’s body. This was the end of a process that took three years and involved moving the statue’s other parts to its new body. The huge building is built on foundations that are 1.5 metres tall.
The 14-meter-tall alabaster monolith colossus of Amenhotep III that will sit on top of the temple’s third pylon is still being built to the west, past the second temple courtyard. In this picture, the pharaoh is kneeling in front of his throne. Between his legs, you can see a statue of his daughter Iset that is 1.7 metres tall. She has on a long dress that fits her well and a round wig. Her fingers are tightly intertwined, and her right hand is resting on her necklace.
Erosion has done some small damage to her face, and she still doesn’t have any legs. Many people think that the alabaster head was part of one of Amenhotep III’s twin northern colossi. It was found next to the statue. His nose, eyes, and ears, as well as the rest of his face, are all still there. There are even signs that it has been fixed before.
The northern colossus was only left with its head and one foot after it was fixed. When the throne was found in the south, the body and head were gone.
The Red Granite Statue:
In 2006, the head of a statue made of red granite was found in the southeast corner of the temple’s courtyard. The pharaoh’s head is 1.3 metres tall and shows him with a crown from Upper Egypt and other symbols of power. Soon, the electric charge will be built into the flesh.
From then on, the statue will be eight metres tall. Between the papyrus-shaped columns on the south side of the courtyard, there used to be two identical statues. One of these kinds of works of art is on display at the Louvre in Paris. It was taken from an Egyptian temple by British agents in 1816.
Red quartzite-made monsters:
At the northern entrance to the temple, a red quartzite colossus and his twin brother were found. After several failed attempts to save them, they were sent back to where they came from. The two huge statues were moved from the Gabal al-Ahmar quarries in ancient Heliopolis to where they are now, at the north entrance of Amenhotep III’s tomb temple in Thebes.
The colossi show the pharaoh walking forward, each hand holding a papyrus scroll with his name on it. The pharaoh wears the white crown of Upper Egypt on his head. His kilt is held up by a wide belt with zigzags and a clasp with his name.
The belt hides a knife with a falcon’s head on the handle. The collar on the pharaoh is too big for his neck.
Huge finds have been made that were a surprise.
When an earthquake in the past knocked down the two colossi, they fell in a southeasterly direction and broke into pieces that stayed in place until 2014. It is thought that the giants’ 13-meter-tall bases add 100 tonnes to their total weight.
The heaviest piece weighs 44 tonnes, which is a lot. In 1821, researchers on a French expedition were the first to write down what they knew about these giants. Later, in 1828, a French archaeologist named Champollion and an Englishman named Wilkinson both wrote about them. The German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt found them in 1933, and his friend Mahmoud Darwish helped him find them again in 1949.
In 1981, Labib Habashi, an archaeologist who worked for the Swiss Institute, went back to the partially unearthed colossi and published what he had found. Since then, the giants have stayed in place on private land.
In 2013, the MSA and CMATCP dug together and found 88 pieces of the western colossus and 73 pieces of the eastern giant. We used a crane to move all the parts to a safer place so that we could count and clean them more easily. The eastern side of the statue is done, but the western half, which was put up in the fall of 2014, is only half done.
Five colossi of Memnon:
The world would soon find out that Amenhotep III had built five more colossi in addition to the two Colossi of Memnon. The tomb of King Amenhotep III can be found west of Luxor. On February 16, 2014, pieces of the Colossi of Memnon were found there.
Researchers from Europe and Egypt found the Memnon colossi at Kom el-Khitan. They were made of quartzite and stood at the entrance to Pharaoh Amenhotep III’s temple there. All of those things are parts of the northern colossus. A piece of a body, a waistband that has been painted, and something worn on the bottom.
No one knew where any of these blocks were after the earthquake that destroyed the temple, except for these two colossi that used to stand at the front gate of the temple. During this expedition, more of the royal crown, the colossus’s base stone, and the huge 88 cm by 76 cm slabs were found.
