The Ramesseum was built by Ramesses II as a huge mortuary temple for himself. It was completed in around 1250 BC. The columns, once part of the temple, were statues of the pharaoh as Osiris, god of the underworld. This was appropriate for a mortuary temple, intended to serve as memory to the greatness of Ramesses for future generations. The photograph is signed, captioned and dated in the negative, 'F Bedford Thebes'. The number in the Day & Son series is 36.