Colossi of Memnon

colossi of memnon ancient statues
Free to see, 3,400 years old, and the first monument on almost every Luxor West Bank itinerary — here's what the Colossi actually are, and which guided tours make the short stop worth it.
Built
c. 1350 BCE, reign of Amenhotep III
Height
~18 m (60 ft) each
Weight
~700 tons each
Material
Quartzite sandstone from Gebel el-Ahmar
Admission
Free — always visible from the road
Typical visit
15–30 minutes
Best time
Before 9am, ahead of tour convoys
Location
Luxor West Bank, en route to Valley of the Kings
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Admission

The Colossi themselves are free — there's no ticket booth or gate, since they stand on open public land beside the road. The tours below bundle a stop here with paid entry to the sites most travelers pair it with, like Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, or the Temple of Hatshepsut.

Tours & Activities

Because the Colossi sit right on the road into the Theban Necropolis, almost no operator sells them as a standalone stop — they're built into half-day and full-day West Bank tours instead. Here's how local guides typically work them in.

Two seated quartzite giants have marked the entrance to Amenhotep III's mortuary temple on Luxor's West Bank since roughly 1350 BCE, and they're usually the first monument travelers see on any West Bank route — visible from the roadside before your vehicle even reaches the ticket booths at Valley of the Kings. Each colossus rises about 18 meters (60 feet) and weighs close to 700 tons, carved from a single block of quartzite sandstone quarried at Gebel el-Ahmar near modern Cairo and hauled more than 675 km down the Nile, a feat of ancient logistics that still puzzles Egyptologists.

Their fame outlasted the pharaoh who built them. After a 27 BCE earthquake cracked the northern statue, it began emitting a strange sound each sunrise, most likely caused by dew evaporating from the fractured stone as morning temperatures rose. Ancient Greek and Roman visitors, convinced they were hearing the mythical hero Memnon greet his mother Eos, carved dozens of graffiti inscriptions into its legs — some still legible today. The sound stopped after Roman emperor Septimius Severus repaired the statue around 199 CE, but the misapplied name Memnon stuck for good.

The statues themselves cost nothing to visit and sit in open view year-round. The temple behind them, however — once larger than Karnak — is an active excavation run by the Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project. In December 2025, the mission unveiled two newly restored alabaster colossi inside the temple grounds after nearly three decades of reassembly work, which means there's now genuinely more to see here than a five-minute photo stop.

Plan your visit

  • Arrive before 8am if you can — there's no shade at the site and it fills with tour convoys by mid-morning.
  • You'll view the statues from a roped-off path a short distance away; there's no walk-up access, so a phone with good zoom or a longer lens helps for close-ups.
  • Look for the ancient Greek and Roman graffiti carved into the base of the northern (right-hand) colossus — it's visible to the naked eye once you know where to look on the legs.
  • Budget 15–30 minutes here, not a full excursion — most guides treat it as a rolling photo stop before the longer visits at Valley of the Kings or Hatshepsut's temple.
  • There are no restrooms or shaded seating at the roadside pullout; use facilities before leaving your hotel or at the Valley of the Kings visitor center.
  • Informal vendors and camel or donkey handlers work the pullout with unfixed prices — agree on a price before accepting a photo, souvenir, or ride.

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