![]() Aerial view of Thebes' Ramesseum, showing pylons and secondary buildings | |
Location | Luxor, Luxor Governorate, Egypt |
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Region | Upper Egypt |
Coordinates | 25°43′40″N 32°36′38″E / 25.72778°N 32.61056°E |
Type | Sanctuary |
Part of | Theban Necropolis |
History | |
Builder | Ramesses II |
Founded | 13th century BC |
Official name | Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis |
Type | Cultural |
Criteria | i, iii, vi |
Designated | 1979 (3rd session) |
Reference no. | 87 |
Region | Arab States |
The Ramesseum is the memorial temple (or mortuary temple) of Pharaoh Ramesses II ("Ramesses the Great", also spelled "Ramses" and "Rameses"). It is located in the Theban Necropolis in Upper Egypt, on the west of the River Nile, across from the modern city of Luxor. The name – 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 Ramesses's names and titles on the walls. It was originally called the House of millions of years of Usermaatra-setepenra that unites with Thebes-the-city in the domain of Amon.[1] Usermaatra-setepenra was the prenomen of Ramesses II.