# The Ramesseum Guide: History, Tickets & What to See Source: https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/ramesseum Language: en # The Ramesseum الرامسيوم Ramesses II’s commemorative temple, where fallen colossal sculpture, decorated stone halls and mud-brick stores reveal different sides of a royal institution. At the Ramesseum, compare the fallen stonework with the surviving mud-brick vaults of the stores. Ramesses II’s commemorative temple needed both monumental halls and spaces for supplies. The stores help you see how that institution worked beyond its ceremonial courts. Published sources · confirm changing details before travel **Already at the site?**Keep the visit sequence and details to look for close to hand. [Open the field guide](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/ramesseum/visit) In one paragraph What is left is enough to read the plan. The first pylon (a monumental gateway formed by two massive towers) is largely gone and the first court is a ruin, though the fallen colossus lies in it against the second pylon; the second court keeps a row of Osiride pillars, standing figures of the king wrapped as a mummy and built into the columns themselves; the hypostyle hall (a roofed hall supported by rows of columns) keeps some of its columns and, in the surviving bays, its ceiling. Time needed: About 1 hour · Best time of day: Any time, but it is a good second or third stop — it is quiet, and quieter still when the coaches are at Deir el-Bahari [How to Read an Egyptian Temple](https://luxor101.com/journal/how-to-read-an-egyptian-temple) **Type**: Temple **Bank**: West bank **Period**: New Kingdom **Principal deity**: Amun **Time needed**: About 1 hour **Best time of day**: Any time, but it is a good second or third stop — it is quiet, and quieter still when the coaches are at Deir el-Bahari **Heat exposure**: High _· Expect exposed sections. Continuous shade or a seated rest area has not been verified; plan a separate break._ **Walking**: Easy _· The fallen colossus, surviving halls and mud-brick stores can make a longer circuit than one viewpoint. Check the permitted route and return distance; no measured accessible circuit is recorded._ **Guide**: Optional **Ticket**: 220 EGP · foreign adult, per person **Photography**: The official ticket page lists mobile-phone photography as free. Confirm room-specific restrictions and rules for other equipment at the site.Online sources checked 2026-09-19 · [Ramesseum — published visitor information](https://egymonuments.com/details/Ramesseum) **Current access**: Current access not verified Dashed boxes mark information we have not verified. Check essential prices, hours and access arrangements with the official venue before travelling. FIG. 1 — THE RAMESSEUM · STONE & MUD BRICK ## A fallen giant, a temple still legible. A simplified plan of the courts, columned hall and storerooms, with a separate study of the brick vaults. Two markers return to the fallen colossus and its later literary fame. SCHEMATIC PLAN · NOT TO SCALE MAIN TEMPLE AXIS 1\. The fallen colossus Select a number to explore a detail here. 1. [The fallen colossus](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/ramesseum#lookfor-ramesseum-fallen-colossus) 2. [Mud-brick vaults still standing behind a fallen stone temple](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/ramesseum#lookfor-ramesseum-mud-brick-vaults) 3. [A ceiling of stars and months](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/ramesseum#lookfor-ramesseum-astronomical-ceiling) 4. [The famous inscription is not on the statue](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/ramesseum#lookfor-ramesseum-ozymandias-inscription) The courts & fallen colossus 1\. The fallen colossus - SECOND COURT - FIRST COURT Select a number to explore a detail here. 1. [The fallen colossus](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/ramesseum#lookfor-ramesseum-fallen-colossus) 2. [Mud-brick vaults still standing behind a fallen stone temple](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/ramesseum#lookfor-ramesseum-mud-brick-vaults) 3. [The famous inscription is not on the statue](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/ramesseum#lookfor-ramesseum-ozymandias-inscription) The hall & magazines 3\. A ceiling of stars and months - INNER TEMPLE - COLUMNED HALL - MUD-BRICK MAGAZINES Select a number to explore a detail here. 1. [A ceiling of stars and months](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/ramesseum#lookfor-ramesseum-astronomical-ceiling) The enduring brick vaults 2\. Mud-brick vaults still standing behind a fallen stone temple Select a number to explore a detail here. 1. [Mud-brick vaults still standing behind a fallen stone temple](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/ramesseum#lookfor-ramesseum-mud-brick-vaults) Text alternative for this figure A fallen giant, a temple still legible. | Look for this | Where | | --- | --- | | 1. The fallen colossus | On the ground in the first court, at the foot of the second pylon | | 2. Mud-brick vaults still standing behind a fallen stone temple | The long ranges north and west of the temple, behind and beside it | | 3. A ceiling of stars and months | The temple’s inner rooms; confirm the location and permitted viewing point with the site team | | 4. The famous inscription is not on the statue | Anywhere in the first court, standing over the fallen colossus | A simplified plan of the courts, columned hall and storerooms, with a separate study of the brick vaults. Two markers return to the fallen colossus and its later literary fame. Look for this ## Details worth stopping for. Numbers match the plan above. Each entry says where it is, what you will actually see, and how confident anyone can be about what it means. 1. 1 ### The fallen colossus [Back to the drawing](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/ramesseum#site-drawing) On the ground in the first court, at the foot of the second pylon The surviving upper part of a colossal granite statue conveys its original scale. View and photograph it from the permitted route; do not position someone among the fragments for scale. Fact — the statue, its material and its collapse. Uncertain — how a block of this weight was transported and raised, and its exact weight, which is an estimate. The surviving fragments convey the scale of the complete granite statue. Estimates of its original weight concern the whole colossus and should be treated as estimates. 2. 2 ### Mud-brick vaults still standing behind a fallen stone temple [Back to the drawing](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/ramesseum#site-drawing) The long ranges north and west of the temple, behind and beside it Parallel storerooms roofed with brick barrel vaults. Look at the end of a vault: the courses are not vertical rings but leaning ones, laid at an angle against the end wall. Fact — the vaults and the way the courses are laid. Interpretation — reading the construction sequence from what is visible today. That lean is the whole trick — each ring is held up by the one behind it while the mortar is still wet, so the vault can be built with no timber framework at all. These are three-thousand-year-old roofs, and they are the surviving half of a temple’s economy: the granaries, the treasury and the workshops that made the religion affordable. 3. 3 ### A ceiling of stars and months [Back to the drawing](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/ramesseum#site-drawing) The temple’s inner rooms; confirm the location and permitted viewing point with the site team A painted night sky: rows of star groups, the twelve months of the Egyptian year with their festivals, and the constellation figures the Egyptians used — a bull’s foreleg, a hippopotamus, a standing man. Fact — the ceiling and its content. Interpretation — reading it as a working administrative calendar rather than as a religious image. Look for astronomical imagery in the temple’s decoration. It connects the royal monument with celestial cycles; it is not, by itself, evidence that this room served as a working calendar office. 4. 4 ### The famous inscription is not on the statue [Back to the drawing](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/ramesseum#site-drawing) Anywhere in the first court, standing over the fallen colossus Shelley’s Ozymandias is a poem, not a transcription of a surviving inscription here. It draws on a tradition transmitted by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, who described a royal colossus and an inscription boasting of the ruler’s greatness. Tradition Tradition — the inscription as quoted by Diodorus Siculus. No such text survives on the statue or anywhere in the temple. Fact — the statue itself, and the date and authorship of the poem. Keep the monument, the ancient literary account and the later poem distinct. They belong to the site’s history in different ways. Look closely, photograph only where permitted, and keep hands and bags clear of ancient surfaces. Follow barriers and conservation instructions. FIG. 2 — Who added what ## Who built and changed this place? Explore the rulers connected with this site and the work they left here. [19th Dynasty **Ramesses II** c.1279–1213 BCE Sixty-six years on the throne, and his name cut into everything within reach. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/pharaohs/ramesses-ii) The rulers appear in chronological order. Select a name to explore their reign and the monuments connected with it. How to visit ## Plan your visit. ### Tickets Published prices in Egyptian pounds per person. Online sources checked 2026-09-19. **Foreign adult / student**: 220 / 110 EGP **Egyptian adult / student**: 20 / 10 EGP Recheck the official seller for your visit date, concession eligibility and any additional charges. A listed ticket does not establish which interiors are open today. Online sources checked 2026-09-19 · [Ramesseum — published visitor information](https://egymonuments.com/details/Ramesseum) ### Opening hours & timing **Daily hours**: Opens 06:00; last entry 17:00 in summer, 16:00 in winter and Ramadan. **Time needed**: About 1 hour **Best time of day**: Any time, but it is a good second or third stop — it is quiet, and quieter still when the coaches are at Deir el-Bahari ### Heat & shade **Heat exposure**: High **Shade**: Low **Walking**: Easy **Water on site**: not verified Expect exposed sections. Continuous shade or a seated rest area has not been verified; plan a separate break. ### Photography **Photography**: The official ticket page lists mobile-phone photography as free. Confirm room-specific restrictions and rules for other equipment at the site.Online sources checked 2026-09-19 · [Ramesseum — published visitor information](https://egymonuments.com/details/Ramesseum) ### Getting there On the west bank, between the Colossi of Memnon and Deir el-Medina, right at the edge of the cultivation and visible from the main road. It takes very little detour to add to a west-bank morning, and it is the natural comparison to make on the same day as Medinet Habu, which was built to the same design. **Typical taxi fare**: not verified ### Do you need a guide? Consider a guide if you want to explore the temple’s royal scenes and the role of its storerooms. The main overview also offers a starting point. [Choosing a guide in Luxor](https://luxor101.com/plan/do-you-need-a-guide) Access ## Check the access details you need. Access depends on the whole route: surfaces, thresholds, distance, shade and facilities. We describe these separately, but have not completed an on-site access audit. Confirm the details you need before visiting. [How we assess accessibility](https://luxor101.com/plan/accessibility) **Ground surface**: Uneven and open — broken paving, fallen blocks, sand and low walls, with no laid path through the courts **Stairs**: Few, but the levels change across the site as the courts step up towards the sanctuary **Shade**: Expect exposed sections. Continuous shade or a seated rest area has not been verified; plan a separate break. **Sensory conditions**: The courts, remaining stone halls and vaulted stores have different degrees of enclosure. Check which areas are open and their lighting; quiet or cooling is not guaranteed. **Claustrophobia**: Much of the visit is outdoors, with some enclosed or roofed areas. Check the chosen route if confined spaces are difficult for you. **Distance on foot**: The fallen colossus, surviving halls and mud-brick stores can make a longer circuit than one viewpoint. Check the permitted route and return distance; no measured accessible circuit is recorded. **Confirm before visiting:** Step-free entry · Wheelchair route · Seating · Accessible toilet · Vehicle drop-off. Our access descriptions are planning guidance, not an on-site audit. Confirm the route and facilities you need before visiting. Photographs alone cannot establish accessibility. After the reading ## Would a licensed guide help your visit? We do not arrange guides or take booking fees. Our guide explains where local knowledge and historical context can add to a visit, and what to ask before hiring someone. [Do you need a guide in Luxor?](https://luxor101.com/plan/do-you-need-a-guide) Continue reading ## Explore the connections 1–1 / 8 [Temple · West bank ### Medinet Habu Colour survives here wherever the roof did — on a temple built by a king fighting to hold Egypt together. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/medinet-habu)[Monument · West bank ### Colossi of Memnon Two seated figures of Amenhotep III mark the entrance area of a once vast royal temple. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/colossi-of-memnon)[Village · West bank ### Deir el-Medina The village of the men who cut the royal tombs. It is the site that makes all the others feel human. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/deir-el-medina)[Temple · West bank ### Temple of Hatshepsut Terraces set straight into the cliff at Deir el-Bahari — and a reign that was later chiselled off its own walls. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/temple-of-hatshepsut)[God ### Amun The hidden god of Thebes, who became king of the gods and the state god of an empire. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/gods/amun)[God ### Ra The sun — and the night journey that every royal tomb in the valley is a map of. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/gods/ra)[God ### Osiris Ruler of the dead, associated with restoration and renewal. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/gods/osiris)[God ### Mut Amun’s consort and the mother of the Theban triad — a queen among goddesses. ](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/gods/mut) Sources & further reading 7 Tier 1 Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities — monument and site records Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (Egypt) Tier 1 [Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis — World Heritage List inscription and documentation](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/87/) UNESCO World Heritage Centre Online source checked 2026-09-19 Tier 2 The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt, Richard H. Wilkinson Thames & Hudson Tier 2 The Encyclopaedia of Ancient Egyptian Architecture, Dieter Arnold I.B. Tauris Tier 2 The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, edited by Ian Shaw Oxford University Press Tier 2 Thebes in Egypt: A Guide to the Tombs and Temples of Ancient Luxor, Nigel and Helen Strudwick British Museum Press Tier 1 [Ramesseum — published visitor information](https://egymonuments.com/details/Ramesseum) Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities — official ticket service Official page indexed · checked 2026-09-19 Source review is incomplete. Consultation dates are shown only for checked references. These references provide the historical background for the page. [Sources and review status](mailto:corrections@egyptmore.com?subject=Luxor101%20correction)