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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.
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