Editing Ozymandias (section)

== Origin ==
[[File:Colossal bust of Ramesses II, the 'Younger Memnon'.jpg|thumb|The statue fragment known as the [[Younger Memnon]] in the British Museum]]
Shelley began writing the poem "Ozymandias" in 1817, upon anticipation of the arrival in Britain of the [[Younger Memnon]], a head-and-torso fragment of a statue of Ramesses II acquired by Italian archeologist [[Giovanni Battista Belzoni]] from the [[Ramesseum]], the [[mortuary temple]] of Ramesses II at Thebes.{{sfn|Chaney|2006|p=49}} Although the Younger Memnon did not arrive in London until 1821<ref>British Museum. [https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=117633&partId=1 Colossal bust of Ramesses II, 'The Younger Memnon']. Retrieved 26 November 2015.</ref>{{sfn|Chaney|2006|p=49}} and  Shelley likely never saw the statue,{{sfn|Khan|2015|pp=66,77}} the reputation of the statue fragment had preceded its arrival in Western Europe. European attempts to acquire the {{convert|7.25|ST|t kg|adj=on}} fragment had been made as early as 1798, when [[French invasion of Egypt and Syria#Scientific expedition|Napoleon's expedition]] unsuccessfully attempted to retrieve it.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/statue-of-ramesses-ii-the-younger-memnon/lQG69yeO93YAQA| title = Statue of Ramesses II, the 'Younger Memnon'. The British Museum. Retrieved 12 April 2021.}}</ref> 

Shelley, who had explored similar themes in his 1813 work ''[[Queen Mab (poem)|Queen Mab]]'', was also influenced by [[Constantin François de Chassebœuf]]'s book ''Les Ruines, ou méditations sur les révolutions des empires'' (''The Ruins, or a Survey of the Revolutions of Empires''), first published in an English translation in 1792.{{sfn|Curran}}