Ramesseum - First Court

The First Court is totally ruined apart from fragments of the west wall, in front of which lie the remains of a colossal figure of Ramesses II, whose name appears in well preserved hieroglyphs on the upper arms and seat of the statue. The surviving parts (breast, upper arms, one foot, etc.) bear witness to the care with which this gigantic monument was carved and polished. The ear is 41in/1.05m long, the torso from shoulder to shoulder measures 23ft4in/7.11m, the girth of the arm at the elbow is 17ft6 in/5.33m, the index finger is 40in/1m long, the breadth of the foot acrossthetoes is 55in/1.40m. The figure is estimated to have had a total height of 57ft 5in/17.50m and to have weighed over 1,000 tons. The head of another colossal statue of the King was found in 1816 and is now in the British Museum.

On the south side of the court was a colonnade (now totally destroyed) fronting a royal palace of which only a few fragments remain.