Ramesseum
Mortuary Temple of Ramesses II · House of Millions of Years of User-Maat-Ra Setep-en-Ra · Memnonium
New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty·Ancient Egyptian·🇪🇬 Luxor Governorate (Theban West Bank), Egypt
About
About Ramesseum
Mortuary temple of Ramesses II (1279–1213 BCE) Diodorus' 'Tomb of Osymandias', 6-ha memorial complex on West Bank with two pylons 60 m wide, Great Hypostyle 48 columns, Osiride portico, Kadesh battle reliefs (first military narrative with Hittite chariots), astronomical ceiling, and sanctuary. Colossus of Ramesses II — Shelley's 'Ozymandias' 17-m fallen head 1,000 tonnes photographed by Belzoni 1816. Stores: mudbrick storehouses vaulted Egyptian method still intact 2 km north. Christian conversion with chapels. Shelley-Blake romantic ruin icon; Ptolemaic erasures.
Why it mattersGreatest Ramesside mortuary temple and Shelley's Ozymandias locus; Kadesh narrative source for Late Bronze diplomatic history.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why temple built so low on floodplain vs Deir el-Bahari height
- 02Whether store magazines supplied Deir el-Medina workforce
Theories
- 01Display theatre for Hittite peace after Kadesh (Spalinger)
- 02Shelley reception history
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1270–1240 BCE (Ramesses II)
- Period
- New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty
- Culture
- Ancient Egyptian
- Builders
- Ramesses II
- Purpose
- Million-year mortuary cult and administrative palace for Theban West
- Rediscovered
- Diodorus 1st c BCE; 1816 Belzoni head lift
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c.1270–1240 BCE (Ramesses II)
Initial construction
c. 1147 CE
Rediscovery
On the ground
Structures & features
25.7267° N · 32.6108° E · 85 m · 2 mapped features
Great Pylon and Osiride Portico
pylon60 m pylon with Kadesh reliefs
25.7270° N · 32.6112° EFallen Colossus of Ramesses II
colossus17 m 1,000-t granite Ozymandias head and torso
25.7265° N · 32.6105° E
Gallery