Thebes - Colossi of Memnon

Beside the road which runs from the Valley of the Queens and Medinet Habu towards the Nile are two prominent landmarks visible from a long way off, the famous Colossi of Memnon. These two gigantic statues, carved from a very hard yellowish-brown sandstone quarried in the hills above Edfu, represent Amenophis III seated on a cube shaped throne. They stood at the entrance to the King's temple, of which only scanty traces are left. In Roman Imperial times they were taken for statues of Memnon, son of Eos and Tithonus, who was killed by Achilles during the Trojan War.