Egypt on Sunday unveiled the restoration of two massive statues of the pharaoh Amenhotep III in the southern city of Luxor, the latest in a series of high-profile archaeological events aimed at attracting more tourists to the country.
The giant alabaster statues, known as the Colossi of Memnon, were reassembled following a painstaking restoration project that spanned nearly two decades. The statues depict Amenhotep III, one of ancient Egypt’s most prominent rulers, who reigned about 3,400 years ago during a period of prosperity and extensive monumental construction.
“Today we are celebrating the completion and erection of these two colossal statues,” Mohamed Ismail, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said ahead of the unveiling ceremony. He described the colossi as central to Luxor’s historical identity and part of a broader effort to revive the original appearance of Amenhotep III’s funerary temple.
Amenhotep III ruled between 1390 and 1353 BC, during the height of Egypt’s New Kingdom, widely regarded as the most prosperous era in ancient Egyptian history. His reign was marked by peace, wealth, and ambitious building projects, including his mortuary temple in Luxor and the Temple of Soleb in Nubia. His mummy is currently displayed at a museum in Cairo.
The Colossi of Memnon originally stood at the entrance to Amenhotep III’s funerary temple on the west bank of the Nile. They were toppled by a powerful earthquake around 1200 BC, which also destroyed much of the temple complex. Over centuries, the statues were fragmented, with some blocks quarried and reused in other monuments, including the Karnak Temple.
In the late 1990s, an Egyptian-German archaeological mission, led by German Egyptologist Hourig Sourouzian, began systematic work at the site, focusing on conserving the remaining structures and reassembling the statues.
“This project aims to save the last remains of what was once a prestigious temple,” Sourouzian said.
The statues depict Amenhotep III seated with his hands resting on his thighs, facing east toward the Nile and the rising sun. He wears the nemes headdress topped with the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt and a pleated royal kilt symbolizing divine kingship. Smaller statues at the pharaoh’s feet represent his wife, Queen Tiye.
Standing 14.5 meters (48 feet) and 13.6 meters (45 feet) tall, the colossi dominate the entrance of what was once a vast 35-hectare (86-acre) temple complex, believed to have been the largest and richest in ancient Egypt and often compared to the Karnak Temple nearby.
The statues were carved from Egyptian alabaster quarried at Hatnub in Middle Egypt and mounted on large inscribed pedestals bearing the name of the temple and quarry. Unlike many other monumental sculptures from ancient Egypt, the colossi were partially assembled from separately carved elements attached to a central monolithic core, according to the Antiquities Ministry.
The unveiling comes just weeks after the inauguration of the long-delayed Grand Egyptian Museum near the Giza Pyramids, a flagship project in the government’s strategy to revive tourism and generate much-needed revenue for the struggling economy.
Egypt’s tourism sector, which relies heavily on the country’s vast pharaonic heritage, suffered major setbacks following the 2011 uprising, years of political instability, the coronavirus pandemic, and the impact of Russia’s war on Ukraine—both countries being key sources of tourists.
“This site is going to be a point of interest for years to come,” Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy said during the ceremony. “There are always new things happening in Luxor.”
According to official figures, about 15.7 million tourists visited Egypt in 2024, contributing roughly 8% of GDP. Authorities expect around 18 million visitors this year and are aiming to reach 30 million tourists annually by 2032, positioning heritage-driven projects like the Colossi of Memnon restoration at the heart of that ambition.
