Ramses the Great's Colossal Statues: Power in Stone

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore Ramses the Great's colossal statues — not just as art, but as tools of power, propaganda, and religious authority. They discuss the famous fallen colossus at the Ramesseum that inspired Shelley's 'Ozymandias', the 66-foot seated statues at Abu Simbel, and the many smaller colossi that lined temples and cities across Egypt. The conversation covers the symbolic meaning of the statues' size and placement, the logistics of carving and transporting gigantic granite blocks from Aswan, and how these monuments were meant to project Ramses's divine rule for eternity. They also touch on the fate of these statues — from ancient destruction to modern tourism — and what they reveal about Ramses's ambitions and the limits of even pharaonic power. Specific names and terms include the Ramesseum, Abu Simbel, Aswan granite, colossus, diorite, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ozymandias, and the ruins at Thebes. The episode offers a focused look at one of the most iconic features of Ramses's reign, tying together art history, engineering, and poetry in a single conversation. #RamsesTheGreat #ColossalStatues #Ozymandias #Ramesseum #AbuSimbel #AswanGranite #EgyptianArt #AncientEgypt #Pharaoh #NewKingdom #19thDynasty #Shelley #Colossus #AncientEngineering #Thebes #Memnon #Propaganda #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo