Younger Memnon

The colossal granite head and upper torso are currently on display in the British Museum in London. The museum officially acquired the priceless historical artifact in 1818 from the British Consul General in Egypt.

The massive statue is a likeness of Ramesses II, one of ancient Egypt's most powerful pharaohs. It was originally carved to stand guard at his mortuary temple, known as the Ramesseum, located in Thebes.

It was acquired by the Italian explorer and antiquities collector Giovanni Belzoni in 1816. Belzoni managed the incredibly difficult task of moving the massive, multi-ton granite bust from the temple ruins to the Nile River for transport to England.

The statue famously inspired the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley to write his renowned poem 'Ozymandias.' Shelley wrote the poem after seeing the bust and reading its boastful inscription about the pharaoh's eternal power.