We passed the Colossi of Memnon, two massive stone statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, which have stood since 1350 BC. The statues contain 107 Roman era inscriptions in Greek and Latin, dated to between AD 20 and 250; many of which make reference to the mythological Greek king, Memnon, whom the statue were then erroneously thought to represent. |
This is only part of the story; Setnakht, the father of Rameses III, had created his own tomb in the Valley of the Kings, as was the normal custom for kings of this period, yet inexplicably, Rameses III decided to have his father interred in the tomb of Tausert, rather than in his own. Later, Rameses III claimed his father's original tomb for himself rather than build his own.
Having been built and decorated for Tausert, the tomb was sloppily converted with some images appearing to be changed for Setnakht. In many of the places where Tausert's image or name appeared, the area was plastered over and repainted with Setnakht's image and name.