Description: In times past the Colossi of Memnon guarded the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III. But nature had its way with the temple and the statues alike. The Nile, which used to run in front of the temple, overflowed and caused damage. An earthquake in 27 BC cracked the statues. Tourists in antiquity haven’t always been kind. The temple was completely destroyed. The likeness of Amenhotep, his wife, and his mother on the 75-foot-high statues is indiscernible now.
Now, when the morning sun rises to dry the dew, the wind whistles through the cracks of the statue, as though calling out, wailing. Because of this they were equated by the early Greek travelers with the figure of Memnon, the son of Aurora who's mother, Eos, was the goddess of dawn. To be granted a song meant that you were very much in favor of the gods. The Roman emperor Septimius Severus repaired the statues in 199 AD, silencing their son forever.
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