Egypt

Travel Snapshots: The colossi of Memnon

Al Ahram Weekly

Some 1,000-tonne twin statues have been standing firm for more than 3,400 years at the entrance of the Theban Necropolis. Mohamed El-Hebeishy takes off the shroud around the Colossi of Memnon.

Amenhotep III ruled for about 40 years during the 18th Dynasty, his reign forever remembered as one of the most prosperous and stable of Ancient Egypt. With no major military activities save one expedition into Nubia, his was a diplomatic rule. International diplomacy thrived during Amenhotep's era with foreign trade substantially increased, with an augmented number of Egyptian goods being found on the Greek mainland. Speaking of monuments, Amenhotep III undertook a grandiose makeover of Karnak Temple, not to mention the mortuary temple he built for himself on the West Bank at Thebes. Though it was the largest and most lavish among Egypt's temples, it was built too close to the flood plains, so it was already in ruins by the 19th Dynasty. Guarding the temple and the whole of Thebes necropolis is the Colossi of Memnon.

See the above for more.

- Imalqata Project Update - Everything Amenhotep
iMalqata Project With some useful links. 2012 is turning out to be the year of Amenhotep III. In addition to our work at his jubilee palace-city at Malqata, excavations and restoration projects are going on in the king’s mortuary temple, his tomb...

- Colossi Of Memnon To Be Restored
Ahram Online (Nevine El Aref) In collaboration with the European archaeological mission, the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) is undertaking a comprehensive project to restore the colossi of Memnon on Luxor’s west bank. The project aims to return...

- More Re Discoveries At Temple Of Amenhotep Iii
Al Ahram Weekly (Nevine El-Aref) A good summary of the work carried out at Kom el Hittan. When it was constructed on Luxor's west bank during the 14th century BC, the mortuary temple of the 18th-Dynasty pharaoh Amenhotep III was the largest temple...

- Hourig Sourouzian: Resurrection
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/768/profile.htm"The Colossi of Memnon, two lonely sentinels, have greeted visitors to the Theban necropolis since Roman times. More recently, as you look beyond the seated monoliths, a temple can be seen progressively re-emerging...

- Amenhotep Iii
Colossal statues will soon accompany the colossi of Memnon as well as other statuary recently found at the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080417/lf_afp/egyptculturediscoveryarchaeology...

Egypt