The Ramesseum Temple

Today, only a small portion of what was once the most impressive temple complex on the Nile’s West Bank remains. Several pillar clusters and a few damaged statues stand among a large field of ridges, holes, broken foundations, and statue fragments that mark out where the rest of the complex once stood. The reputation of this site is now more closely associated with the reputation of the man who commissioned it than with the appearance of its ruins.

Ramesses II is the name most commonly associated with many of the monuments in and around Luxor and further south. He was a prolific builder who also liked to repurpose existing monuments to boost his reputation.
He was the greatest conqueror in Egyptian history, ruling for 67 years during the New Kingdom (1279—1213 BC) and expanding his kingdom’s borders into Syria’s south, west, and north.

His temple was dedicated to him and was meant to be the greatest of all monuments as a testament to his power and influence. Plundering by subsequent pharaohs who couldn’t afford to quarry their own stones, natural disasters, and finally this site’s use as a church by early Egyptian Christians all took their toll on this once great structure, but evidence of its greatness can still be found among the scattered ruins.

There are the ruins of Ramesses II’s toppled colossus, which stood over six stories tall and was the largest freestanding sculpture ever attempted in Egypt and one of the largest ever attempted anywhere in the world. The decoration of the remaining columns in the hypostyle hall is also impressive, demonstrating the fine craftsmanship that defined the construction of the Ramesseum.
Though little remains, the Ramesseum is still an exciting place to visit, especially for those interested in the life of Ramesses II, the greatest of the pharaohs. Its design served as inspiration for Ramesses III’s much better preserved temple complex at Medinat Habu.

you can visit The Ramesseum Temple during your Nile Cruise between Aswan and Luxor with Al Sahel Travel.