During visiting sightseeing in east and west banks in Luxor, no way to ignore visiting the colossal statue of Memnon.
Representing the great king Amenophis the third, a significant element to present the fantastic antiques on Luxor’s second bank, it is a suitable prologue to know the city’s glory in ancient Egypt and the standards of antiques in this area.
The location of the colossi statue Memnon
Location colossi statue memon in the west bank of Luxor during the on the right of the way which leads to the valley of queens and Deir al madinat, in front of mortuary temple king Amenophis the third. It was constructed before the facade of the temple for the king, in the seated position.
Etymology
There is no clear definition for this item of this vast statue located on the west bank of Luxor. First of all, not all archaeologists agree to say colossal statues of Memnon, rather colossal statues of Memnon. However, both figures belong to king Amenhotep the third.
Later, Greeks called these colossal statues Memnon because of the feature accrued after the earthquake in 27 B.C. Both statues were rifted, through holes in one of these statues, making sound during morning wind when it goes through these holes, so the Greeks memorized the crying of Memnon, who Achilles killed according to their mythology
The purpose of constructing Memnon
Building this colossal statue of Memnon was unclear in ancient times. Nowadays, indeed, it was an ancient tradition for each king, who wanted to document his glory through building temples for the gods and attached his presence with the presence of the god, through carving his names on the walls of the temple, plus his statues inside god’s temples.
The erection of the colossi statue Memnon
The erection of this colossi was by king Amenophis the third, for himself, before his mortuary temple on the west bank. The habit was repeated later during the reign of King Ramses the second. When he finished the Luxor temple on the eastern bank of Luxor, he constructed colossal statues for himself, similar to a colossal statue of Memnon in form but much smaller in size.
The material of colossi Memnon
The material used in building this colossal statue of Memnon is sandstone, which was very popular in ancient Egypt. It is necessary to mention that nearly all the temples in ancient Egypt were constructed from sandstone, while most pyramids were constructed from limestone.
This sandstone was initially brought from Silsila mountain in upper Egypt, from Edfu to kom Ombo. It was the main quarry and material source to build temples and statues in Luxor.
History of this statue
Statues were damaged after the great earthquake, which hugely destroyed the temple of Amenhotep, the third, which was built in the 13 century.
King Amenhotep the third decided to construct his mortuary temple in this place. It was constructed by his great architect Amenhotep, son of habu. This temple was one of the most remarkable temples in Luxor in ancient Egypt. However, unfortunately, this temple was demolished because of the earthquake in the year 27 b.c. However, the colossal statue of king Amenhotep standing is gigantic and stunning for each visitor, forming the identity of Luxor in most of the brochures about Egypt.
The sound of colossi Memnon
After the earthquake in Luxor in 27 b.c, there were many destructions; the king’s Amenophis, the third temple, and his colossal statues, especially the left one, had lots of holes inside them. During the early morning wind, which through these holes of colossal of Memnon made an unmistakable sound to indigenous people in Luxor, there were many Roman people in this temple, who called this sound cry of Memnon who Achilles killed. That is why the whole colossal was called the colossus of Memnon.
Measurements and description
The colossal of Memnon is made of hard limestone and transported to Luxor from the quarry to its existing place.
However, its heavyweight is the most considerable massive weight, but carving such a statue and transporting it to its nowadays place reflects the level of architecture and the logistics techniques in ancient Egypt.
The colossal represents the king seated on this throne in his traditional position with his cover head nemes and short shined. Between the legs of the king are small figures representing the king’s concubines.