The
18 meter high statues of Memnon are the only things left of Pharaoh Amenhotep
III:s temple. Originally 
they
stood on each side of the temple gate. The Colossi of Memnon were a tourist
attraction as early as 2000 years ago, during the Greek and Roman era. The
Greeks believed the statues represented Memnon, an Ethiopian king, who was
killed by Achilles during the Trojan War.The
statues "sang" at sunrise. This mysterious phenomenon made the
Greek tourists believe it was a miracle. They were convinced that Memnon
sang for his beloved mother Eos, who on her part wept for her fallen son.
But the sound originated from the quick change of temperature when the sun
heated the cold, cracked stone. The statues had been damaged in an earthquake
in 30 BC. The Roman Emperor Septimius Severus must have been a busybody since
he mended the statues 200 hundred years later. Memnon never sang after that
treatment. I wonder if the tourist business in those days ever recovered
from that loss.
First published: Monday 20th May, 1996.
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