Due to its rich archeological history, Egypt is well-known as a home to various colossi statues depicting ancient rulers. Most travellers to Egypt easily recognize this when visiting the Colossi of Memnon, seated proudly on the West Bank of the Nile in Luxor, or when standing small before the seated statues fronting the Temple of Abu Simbel. As such, it would come as no surprise that this land, with its distinct identity and cultural wealth, would inspire the building of modern-day structures and monuments. One such surprising project would be the towering Statue of Liberty located on New York’s Liberty Island. While it may be incredibly far-fetched at first, evidence points that the statue’s design was not originally intended to grace the US’ shores, but actually, to find itself nestled in the city of Port Said in Egypt. The Statue of Liberty was designed by French artist and sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, who, after visiting Egypt in 1855 with a group of Orientalist painters, decided to create a colossal statue intended to rival Egypt’s ancient ones, namely one of the most iconic statue of the Giza Plateau, the Sphinx. The…
