ramesseum (mortuary temple of ramses ii)

The words of this evocative poem wonderfully suggest the romanticism of the Ramesseum when bathed in afternoon sunlight. Although now badly destroyed the huge enclosure of Ramesses II's 'mansion-of-millions-of-years' (mortuary temple) is very much a must-do on most Egyptology students' wish-lists to visit. The beautiful star-ceiling, Ramesses II's processions of princes and princesses, the lovely tree of life scene, and of course Oxymandias, the huge fallen head of Ramesses II which inspired the poem. Even the barrel-vaulted store-rooms, not necessarily intrinsically pleasing, tell their own fascinating story of life on the west bank in Ramesside Egypt.

We were the only ones here and no hawkers or guardians, it was great. Our guide told us some stories and we could marvel at the carving and the massiveness of the place.

I have visited the Ramesseum many times and always find something new.and interesting .the giant statue of Ramses is broken after an earthquake many years ago but it is still very impressive

All of the temples we visited were unique, and I would advise seeing as many as you can rather than sunbathing all holiday.This temple was easily the smallest one we visited, but had the largest statue we saw all holiday. Still impressive without it, but it's worth seeing just to stand next to a statue of such a massive size, even though it is fallen over.

After much recent conservation work this temple is looking better than even. Wonder at the colossal size of the famous Ozymandius statue, and enjoy the temple almost to yourself. This is not popular with tourists, so its a magnificent gem where you can contemplate ancient egypt in relative peace and quiet.

The temple must have been gigantic, but much of it was lost. What remains is still interesting enough, most of all the first pylon which tells us about the battle of Kadesh. The temple and the palace - which is not there any longer - were surrounded by magazines and craft shops made of mud bricks, a lot of them can still be seen. They are still digging at the Ramesseum - very interesting. An impressing avenue of shinxes has been restored.

gigantic statue of king ramses fallen and there isnt a crane in the world as yet which can lift the 165 tonne statue and to imagine the egyptians did this 5000 yrs ago. and we are in the jet age ! .. badly damaged in the great eqrthquake but the majestic and grandeur can be felt even now, less touristic hence can spend some quiet time here without zealous guys hounding you. well worth the visit

This is a nice temple, with some really great battle scenes and a GIANT, but fallen statue. Much of it is being restored, shored up and protected, but there is still much to see around the temple.A whole number of granaries are near the temple, some relating them to the story of Joseph in Egypt.

Not much visited by tourists, but excellent site and very quiet where you can take your time looking. My favorite site near Luxor.

The word awe-inspiring gets overused for these Egyptian relics. I can't think of anytrhing else to say that you can't google. There is just SO much to see when a culture/civilization has had 3,000-4,000 years to build.

The remains of this mortuary temple are amazing. There are colossal statues of Ramses II everywhere, including the largest statue in all of Egypt, now in fragments on the ground. It was the inspiration for Shelley's poem "Ozymandias." Unfortunately, groundwater has risen and the existing pylon is up against a sugar cane field. The site is in danger of further degradation soon, if steps aren't taken to preserve it.

Once again i found myself on my own in the Ramessium on the West Bank. Ramses II called his massive memorial temple ‘the Temple of Millions of Years of User-Maat-Ra’.Tickets must be bought at the small ticket office near the Colossi of Memnon and cost 40LE Adults and 20LE Students/Children (coreect as of Sept 2014). I spent around an hour and half on my own not one other visitor was visiting which was sad but great for the photo album!Like other memorial temples it was part of Ramses II’s funerary complex. His tomb was built deep in the hills, but his memorial temple was on the edge of the cultivation on a canal that connected with the Nile and with other memorial temples.Unlike the well-preserved structures that Ramses II built at Karnak and Abu Simbel, his memorial temple has not survived the times very well. It is mostly in ruins, despite extensive restoration – a fact that would no doubt disappoint Ramses II. The Ramesseum is famous for the scattered remains of fallen statues.Although it is more elaborate than other temples, the fairly orthodox layout of the Ramesseum, consisting of two courts, hypostyle hall, sanctuary, accompanying chambers and storerooms, is uncommon in that the usual rectangular floor plan was altered to incorporate an older, smaller temple – that of Ramses II’s mother, Tuya – off to one side.The entrance is through a doorway in the northeast corner of the enclosure wall, which leads into the second court, where one should turn left to the first pylon . The first and second pylons measure more than 60m across and feature reliefs of Ramses’ military exploits, particularly his battles against the Hittites. Through the first pylon are the ruins of the huge first court , including the double colonnade that fronted the royal palace .Near the western stairs is part of the Colossus of Ramses II , the Ozymandias of Shelley’s poem, lying somewhat forlornly on the ground, where it once stood 17.5m tall. The head of another granite statue of Ramses II , one of a pair, lies in the second court . Twenty-nine of the original 48 columns of the great hypostyle hall are still standing. In the smaller hall behind it, the roof, which features astronomical hieroglyphs, is still in place.

Good Temple to visit, not many people visit this place as it is not on the main tours.We went on our own by taxi and had a good 2 hours there.

In my view, one of the most stunning temples on the West Bank. Peaceful, quiet, great atmosphere. The carvings on the walls and pylons are incredible and are basically Ramses's propaganda about his various campaigns, his life in general and his relationship with the various deities. Do not miss out on this temple! From here you can also easily walk to see the Tombs of the Nobles - which are, in my view, some of the best tombs on the West Bank.

In legend at least, Ozymandias has no parallels as a ruler. In actual history too, Ramesses II, the Egyptian ruler Shelley referred to 'the king of kings' has an unparalleled place in ancient Egyptian history. As often happened, a powerful ruler built a fitting temple to himself. Ramesseum, as his mortuary temple is now referred to, unfortunately is in ruins. The remains of the nearby mortuary temple of Ramasses III at Medinat Habu and of Hatshepsut are far grander today. If you have a ticket that allows for three places in the Valley of Kings, do not choose this one. However, for those who have grown with the legend, do go and marvel at the ruins. There are still remains of the pylons and halls. The most spectacular remains are those of the fallen over figure of Ramesses II – which when it stood at its full height of 62 feet would have been a sight indeed. Today the head has toppled over, and lies on the side – and that alone is bigger than a standard full size bus! What efforts and technology it must have taken about 3,500 years ago to make a colossal statue of its size is something to truly marvel at. The temple apparently was built over 20 years! There are still a lot of wall stories still clearly visible. You can take pictures of the Ramasses from the road. For a better idea of the temple structure, visit Medinat Habu, just down the road. As in every other temple here, the heat is relentless – carry your sun protection gear if you are going in for a longer visit that pics from the road.