The famous Colossi of Memnon - in fact two grand statues of Pharaoh AmenHotep III

The famous Colossi of Memnon - in fact two grand statues of Pharaoh AmenHotep III, originally uploaded by Jannet Duroc.

The famous Colossi of Memnon is in fact two grand statues of Pharaoh AmenHotep III which stood in front of his temple on the westbank. Unlike most other temples this temple was built on agriculture land and not in the desert area further west. Due to this fact the temple was flooded every year, and the stones of the temple was soon after used as material for new temples in the area. The statues of AmenHotep III was originally 21 meters high and are still standing here. Already during the Greek and Roman times in Egypt, tourists came in large number from all over the empire to visit these colossus. As a sound came from them when during sun set, this sound was recognized as the lamentation over the Greek hero Memnon from Troy - and that is how the Memnon name became connected with the statues of AmenHotep III.