Colossi of Memnon

Colossi of Memnon are two statues of king Amenhotep III, part of the funerary temple built by Amenhotep III in Thebes on the western bank. It remained in excellent condition until the arrival of Ptolemaic conquest of Egypt, an earthquake happened in 27 BC lead to break of the upper half of the northern statue, this break caused the sound of sweet music due to the friction of the wind with the remains of the broken statue. The Greeks said that this voice is the voice of the fighter Memnon who was killed in the war of Troy and his mother yearns to see him and weeps for his parting. The weeps appear in the form of drops of dew. This is why the two statues are named by the name of Memnon, instead of Amenhotep III (The owner of the temple). The two statues became a sacred shrine for visitors from all over the world; in particular two roman emperors visited the colossi (Hadrianos and Septimus Severus).Septimus repaired the north statue, this caused a negative impact. The sweet music sound disappeared because the wing does not collide with the broken part that produces the sound.

Amenhotep III is the ninth king of the eighteenth dynasty, one of the greatest kings who ruled Egypt. His reign lasted for 37 years. He dead at the age of 50 and his reign were characterized by stability. He had more than one wife, but the best of them was queen Tee, whom he loved and preferred to the rest of his wives, even though she was not of royal origin.
Queen Tee, the mother of King Akhenaton, was the first to advocate unification and the greatness of the brilliant king Tut Ankh Amoun among the kings of Egypt.

The Egyptian European expedition discovered a monumental statue of king Amenhotep III during the excavation of the temple and the statue carved from Alabaster. The expedition found the statue’s body separated from the head. The Egyptian scientist Dr. Zahi Hawass says that this statue one of the two statues which decorated the third pylon of Amenhotep III temple. It’s located about 200 meters from Colossi of Memnon.