#colossal statues

Pliny the Elder tells us:

But the work that surpassed all in admiration was the colossal statue of the Sun of Rhodes, which was made by Chares of Lindos, a disciple of Lysippos, who was mentioned above. This statue was 70 cubits high [c. 32 m]; after standing 56 years it was thrown down by an earthquake [224 B.C., so the Colossus was made c. 280], but even as it lies on the ground it is a marvel. Few people can get their arms around its thumb, and the fingers are larger than most statues. Vast caves yawn within the limbs that have been broken off, and in them are seen great masses of rock, with the weight of which he [Chares] stabilized it as he was setting it up. According to tradition, the work on it took twelve years and cost 300 talents, which they raised from [the sale of] the siege machinery left behind by King Demetrios when gave up the long siege of Rhodes in disgust [305 B.C.].

Pliny, Natural History. 34.41.

By Nevine El-Aref

“A collection of four gigantic objects have arrived at the Grand Egyptian Museum for eventual display on the museum’s grand staircase.”

“They include two rosy granite colossi of Senosert I, a 20-tonne red granite triad statue featuring Ramses II between deities Ptah and Sekhmet, and the top of a Hatshepsut obelisk, weighing 14 tonnes.”

“Altayeb Abbas, the GEM’s director for archaeological affairs, said that the artefacts had been displayed in the garden of the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir.”