If you ever wondered why the Colossi of Memnon rest all alone out in the fields, the 14th century BCE Temple of Amenophis 3 is the explanation. This temple was gigantic, the largest ever built on the west bank of Thebes. The two colossi were guarding the entrance to the temple enclosure. The core of the temple was 500 metres in from this!
Apart from the two colossi, little remains, although ongoing excavations are at least revealing the layout and fragments of statues and walls. If you manage to get passed the zealous caretaker, you can look at a few pieces of excellent quality for free. The huge stele is clearly the most noteworthy.
The main reason for the present condition of the temple is that Merneptah stole everything that could be quarried and carried when he built his mortuary temple nearby.
One interesting fact with the temple: It is one of few lying so low in the terrain that was flooded by the annual inundation of the Nile. This was clearly intended, and the temple would symbolize the emergence of the world from the primeval waters in the time when the world was created.
|