Were it still standing, the Ozymandias colossus of Ramses (celebrated by poet Percy Bysshe Shelley in his sonnet "Ozymandias") would tower 20 meters above the ground, rivaling the Colossi of Memnon and the statues of Ramses carved into the mountain at Abu Simbel. The name " Ramesseum " – or at least its French form, Rhamesséion – was coined by Jean-François Champollion, who visited the ruins of the site in 1829 and first identified the hieroglyphs making up Ramses' names and titles on the walls. The design of Ramses's mortuary temple follows the standard designs of New Kingdom temple architecture. The main building, dedicated to the funerary cult, comprised two stone pylons (gateways, some 60 m wide), one after the other, each leading into a courtyard. Beyond the second courtyard, at the center of the complex, was a covered 48-column hypostyle hall , surrounding the inner sanctuary. As is customary, the pylons and outer walls were decorated with...