Memphis, Tennessee: 25-Foot-Tall Statue of Ramesses II

The replica statue of Ramesses II was made in Memphis, supervised by Steve Masler, chief curator of Wonders: The Memphis International Cultural Series. The mold was made in a warehouse on President's Island in southeast Memphis by master mold maker Ron Street from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The molds were then sent to Philadelphia to be cast in resin and crushed granite.

For over 20 years a huge statue of Egypt's pharaoh-god was dwarfed by the building it stood in front of: America's Largest Pyramid on the outskirts of Memphis, Tennessee. But the pyramid failed as an attraction and was sold to Bass Pro Shops, which planned to turn it into a huge, oddly-shaped store. With no more need for a protective deity, the pyramid was separated from Ramesses II on April 24, 2012, and the city trucked the statue several miles east to the campus of the University of Memphis. Ramesses II now stands right off of Central Ave., looming far larger than he ever did in front of a 32-story-tall pyramid. The statue, which is fiberglass, was built in 1991 by special permission of the Egyptian government.