The "Younger Memnon": A Colossal Case of Ancient Reuse and Modern Empire

What happens when an ancient Egyptian king recycles a statue—and then an empire steals it more than 3,000 years later? In this episode of Afterlives of Ancient Egypt, Kara Cooney and Amber Myers Wells take you on a deep dive into the life, reuse, and relocation of the colossal statue fragment known as the “Younger Memnon” (British Museum, EA 19). Once a towering monument to Amenhotep III, then reused by Ramses II, and finally carted off to London as a result of 19th-century colonialism, this statue has lived many lives—and it still looms large in the British Museum. It’s the first thing you see when you turn the corner to the Egyptian galleries…

Tune into learn how a two-toned block of granite became a symbol of solar kingship, modern colonial power, and the politics of museum display. From Shelley’s Ozymandias to the ethics of repatriation, it’s a conversation about ownership, ideology, and the stories we choose to tell. What a magnificently complicated piece.

Don’t miss Kara’s written companion post to this episode, “The ‘Younger Memnon’: A Colossal Lesson in Power, Reuse, and Colonial Trophy Hunting,” on the Ancient/Now Substack.

Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley

The Younger Memnon, British Museum EA 19

The “Younger Memnon,” British Museum EA 19. Photo credit: Mujtaba Chohan.