On your way
to visit the west bank of Luxor, the first
monument that you will encounter, before you
get to valley, is the two
gigantic statues known as the Colossi of Memnon. The Greeks gave them their name,
after the Trojan hero Agha Memnon, who was killed
by Achilles.
These two,
gigantic Statues of Amenhotep III were
originally situated in front of his Mortuary
temple, which was destroyed for unknown
reasons! The two colossi are made of
sandstone, which during ancient times was
brought from Gabal El Silselah. Each
colossus, including the pedestal and the
crown, is about 21m tall and represents King
Amenhotep III seating on his throne, wearing
the Nemes, or royal headdress, with the
divine cobra protecting his forehead. On the
sides of the colossi there is a
representation of the Nile god Hapi, bending
together the lotus and the papyrus plants,
symbolizing the union of Upper and Lower
Egypt
Parts of the northern statue cracked and
fell during an earthquake in 27 BC.
This site became a popular resort in the Roman Period. Many famous Romans, and other travelers, wrote verses and poems about these massive statues, and they also left epigrams on the stones.
They reason that they became famous during the Roman period is that they were said to have sung! Some theories attribute this phenomenon to the expansion of the stone, when the sun warmed it during the day, and then the natural contraction in the cool of the evening.
Another
theory suggested that the reason was due to
the wind reverberating through the cracks.
Unfortunately the restoration, which took
place during the reign of the Roman Emperor Septemius Severus (193-212 A.D), made the
sound stop forever! Yes, sadly, they no
longer sing!
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