Colossi of Memnon

The Colossi of Memnon are two massive stone statues, each reaching sixty feet in height, that stand as solitary guardians on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor. Carved from quartzite sandstone around thirteen hundred fifty before the common era, they once marked the entrance to the mortuary temple of Pharaoh Amenhotep the Third. While the temple itself has largely vanished, these figures remain, weathered and imposing, still gazing eastward toward the rising sun.