Political-Religious Images
In ancient Egypt, the direct link between religious meaning and the display of political power and authority was evident not only from pylon decorations
visible to any passer-by, but also from the obelisks and monumental statutes flanking the main entrances of temples.
The so-called Memnon colossi, two seated statues that are the only remaining parts in upright position of the once largest of all Theban mortuary temples, that of Amenhotep III at the west bank of Luxor, were 18 metres high. If on a clear day a person two metres tall stood on top of one of the statues he could see a distance of 16 kilometres, the equivalent of the full width of the Nile valley at ancient Thebes. Although it is probably fair to assume that no one ever climbed on pharaoh's head, it is roughly this visibility that the living king, personified by his statues, had when overlooking the entirety of his capital city. Drawing a circle with a radius of 16 kilometres creates an area of 804 km2, the equivalent of a city roughly the size of Berlin.There can be no doubt that religious monuments in ancient Egypt communicated political manifestos, the places for which were marked by the temple pylons acting as membranes between the profane and sacred worlds. One of the largest buildings in ancient Rome which included columns 21.7 metres tall was also a monument closely linked with Egypt: the Serapeum at the Quirinal Hill which stood atop a marble stairway that once mounted from the bottom to the top of the Quirinal must have been an even more impressive sight. Given the fact that the Quirinal Hill alone is 61 metres tall, the sanctuary as a whole must have reached a height of c. 93 metres, roughly the height of the pharaoh Snofru's pyramid at Meidum (91.9 metres). Highlighting Caracalla's view of Egypt, the Serapeum at Quirinal Hill was the hollowed hall of hyperbole and more than anything else perceived as monumental beyond any known standard. However, the very selective recollection of the Egyptian past led to a fragmented memory of Egypt and focusing exclusively on what was serviceable or interesting for Rome. According to the Romans, size in ancient Egypt mattered, while in fact it did not: a model offering vessel was as important for a dead individual's life in the beyond as a real one filled with food. In Egypt, oversize created memory and oversize temples in Egyptian urban areas shaped the memory of Egypt's past and present.