#15640 Bearing Witness to Colossal Illusions of Grandeur in Luxor, Egypt

Old stones are dime a dozen in Egypt, and the West Bank of Luxor is littered with the remnants of ages past. Yet few monuments resonate with as much bathos as the Ramesseum: mortuary temple of the mighty Ramesses II. It seems Old Man Time thought this powerful pharaoh needed a lesson in humility, and much of the “Temple of a Million Years” now lies in ruins: a shattered skeleton watching over a bone-yard of stones. Some say that the fallen colossus of Ramesses, which once loomed over the temple, inspired Shelley’s poem, "Ozymandias." The severed feet remain cruelly anchored to the earth, neatly arranged like the shoes of a temple supplicant, but the massive head has crashed to the ground. Worn smooth by the elements, the featureless face stares blankly into the depths of the sky. The sky gazes back, whispering, “Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”