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The sitting mighty Colossi
of Memnon originally belong to King Amenhotep
III. They were once flanking his big mortuary temple that
was leveled to the ground by time. Its stones were either reused
or stolen.
The 18-meter-high colossi are made of quartzite sandstone.
Later, the left-hand statue was associated by the Greeks with
their god Memnon, son of dawn-goddess Eos, who fought in defense
of Troy, hence the current names of the colossi.
An earthquake in 28 BC made cracks in one colossus, emitting
a whistling sound that the Greek believed it is the voice of
singing god Memnon as he greets his mother.
The colossi attracted ancient tourists who flocked there to
hear the singing, as manifested by Greek and Latin graffiti
inscribed on the pedestals. Among the ancient VIPs who visited
the colossi are Roman
Emperor Hadrian and his wife in 130 AD.
A restoration to them in the 3rd century AD filled in the cracks
and caused the halt of 'the singing' forever. |
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