Ramesseum
Mortuary Temple of Ramesses The Great
The House of Millions of Years
On the west bank of Thebes, not far from the Valley of the Kings, rise the remains of one of Egypt’s most ambitious monuments: the mortuary temple of Ramesses II also known as Ramesses The Great, known today as the Ramesseum.
In his lifetime, Ramses II — often called Ramses the Great — left his mark across Egypt with temples, statues, and obelisks. To crown his legacy, he commissioned a vast “House of Millions of Years,” a temple that would celebrate both his reign and the gods who upheld it, long after he was gone.
The site chosen was dramatic and symbolic, facing east across the Nile toward Karnak. Here, the temple would link the cycle of sun and river with the eternity of the pharaoh’s name. Its pylons once towered over courtyards and colonnades, leading into halls of painted reliefs and sanctuaries for the gods.
Though much of the temple lies in ruin today, the scale of Ramses’ vision is unmistakable. Even in fragments, the Ramesseum speaks of ambition without limit — a temple built to ensure that one king’s name would endure for all time.
Experience it
The centerpiece of the Ramesseum was once a statue unlike any other.
Carved from a single block of granite and standing over 18 meters high, the colossus of Ramses II was one of the largest ever created in Egypt. Seated on his throne, the king gazed eastward across the Nile, his features carved with calm majesty. Today, the statue lies toppled and broken on the ground, its massive head and torso scattered across the courtyard. Even in ruin, its scale is staggering — a reminder of both the ambition of Ramses and the fragility of stone against time.
The temple walls were no less imposing. Reliefs carved across pylons and halls told the story of Ramesses’ reign. Most famous are the depictions of the Battle of Kadesh, where Ramesses is shown driving his chariot into enemy ranks, bow drawn, horses rearing. Though the true outcome of the battle was more complex, the reliefs proclaim unequivocal victory.
Other scenes show the king making offerings to Amun-Ra, leading religious processions, and celebrating festivals. In every carving, Ramses appears larger than life, favored by the gods, eternal in his strength. It was a monument to memory, a chronicle in stone designed to shape how Ramses would be remembered.
Experience it
Time was not kind to the Ramesseum. Floods from the Nile, earthquakes, and centuries of reuse stripped much of the temple away. Columns collapsed, pylons fell, and the great colossus of Ramses II broke into pieces across the courtyard. The once-vast sanctuary became a ruin, its stones scattered across the plain.
And yet, in ruin, the Ramesseum found a second life. Travelers in antiquity and beyond came to marvel at its fragments. Greek and Roman visitors admired its scale; later, European explorers traced its reliefs and measured its fallen statues. The English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley gave it immortality in verse. His poem Ozymandias, inspired by reports of the shattered colossus, captured the irony of a king who built to last forever — only for time to reduce his monument to ruin.
“Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Today, the Ramesseum is quieter than the great temples of Karnak or Hatshepsut. Its courtyards are open to the sun, its statues lie in silence, and its reliefs speak softly of battles and offerings long past. But the atmosphere is powerful. To walk among its ruins is to feel both the grandeur of Ramses II and the humility of time itself.
We invite you to experience this moment for yourself.
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