Answer: The statue has an engraving.
In the poem "Ozymandias," the statue that the traveller finds in the sand has an engraving. The text is the following:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
The poem explains that while the engraving promises great works, and glory that will shock the passerby, nothing around remains. It has all been destroyed and forgotten by the passage of time.
