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The Colossi of Memnonتمثالا ممنون

Two massive seated statues of the pharaoh Amenhotep III, rising 18 metres on the West Bank — all that remains visible of his vast mortuary temple, and famed in antiquity for the 'singing' statue.تمثالان جالسان هائلان للفرعون أمنحتب الثالث، يرتفعان 18 مترًا على الضفّة الغربية — كل ما بقي ظاهرًا من معبده الجنائزي الشاسع، واشتهرا في العصور القديمة بـ«التمثال المغنّي».

Standing alone on the plain of the West Bank, two colossal stone figures gaze out toward the Nile: the Colossi of Memnon. These massive seated statues, around 18 metres tall, depict the pharaoh Amenhotep III, and once guarded the entrance to the largest mortuary temple ever built in Thebes — a temple now almost entirely vanished. In antiquity, one of the colossi became world-famous for a haunting sound it made at dawn, drawing visitors from across the Roman world.

يقف وحيدين على سهل الضفّة الغربية، تمثالان حجريان هائلان يحدّقان نحو النيل: تمثالا ممنون. هذان التمثالان الجالسان الضخمان، بارتفاع نحو 18 مترًا، يصوّران الفرعون أمنحتب الثالث، وحرسا يومًا مدخل أكبر معبدٍ جنائزي بُني في طيبة — معبدٌ اندثر الآن كلّه تقريبًا. وفي العصور القديمة، اشتهر أحد التمثالين عالميًّا بصوتٍ مؤرّق كان يصدره عند الفجر، فجذب الزوّار من أنحاء العالم الروماني.

تمثالا ممنون
~18 m tall

Two Giants on the Plain · عملاقان على السهل

Statues of Amenhotep IIIتمثالا أمنحتب الثالث

Guardians of a lost temple.حارسا معبدٍ ضائع.

The two colossi are enormous seated statues of the pharaoh Amenhotep III, each carved from massive blocks of quartzite and rising about 18 metres high. They were set up to flank the entrance to the king's mortuary temple, facing east toward the river. For over 3,000 years they have kept their lonely watch on the West Bank plain, weathered but still imposing — among the first monuments travellers see on crossing the Nile to the West Bank necropolis.

A Vanished Temple · معبدٌ مندثر

The Largest in Thebesالأكبر في طيبة

Once the grandest of all.كان الأفخم على الإطلاق.

The colossi are almost all that remains visible of what was once the largest mortuary temple in all of Thebes — grander even than Karnak in its day. Over the centuries the temple was ruined by earthquake and flood and its stone reused elsewhere, leaving the two guardian statues standing where its gateway once stood. Modern excavations behind the colossi continue to uncover statues and remains, slowly revealing the scale of this lost masterpiece of Amenhotep III's reign.

The Singing Statue · التمثال المغنّي

A Wonder of the Ancient Worldأعجوبة العالم القديم

The voice of Memnon.صوت ممنون.

The colossi owe their name to a famous ancient legend. After an earthquake cracked the northern statue, it began to emit a strange sound at dawn — a singing or moaning tone as the morning sun warmed the stone. Greek and Roman visitors believed it was the mythical hero Memnon greeting his mother Eos, goddess of the dawn. The "singing colossus" became one of antiquity's great tourist attractions, visited even by Roman emperors — until later repairs silenced it forever.

Quick Facts · حقائق سريعة

The Colossi of Memnon at a Glanceتمثالا ممنون في سطور

What they are: two giant statues of Amenhotep III on Luxor's West Bank.
Arabic name: تمثالا ممنون (the Colossi of Memnon).
Height: about 18 metres each.
Once guarded: the largest mortuary temple in Thebes, now vanished.
Famous for: the "singing" statue that sounded at dawn in antiquity.
Where: the West Bank plain, near the other Theban monuments.

Sources include standard Egyptology references. The "singing" legend is ancient tradition; figures are approximate.