DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2871#0020
THE COLOSSI OF THE PLAIN.
the legend. In one inscription Ave read that -three Roman officers,
Instuleius Tenax, Valerius Priscus, and Lucius Quintus Viator, " heard
Memnon in the year XI. of Nero, our Emperor, the 12th of the calends
of April, at 1 o'clock." And again, Titus Lutius Lupus, Prefect of Egypt,
says, " I have heard Memnon the 12th of the calends of April, at the 1st
hour."
These old monuments, which bear the name of Amunoph III., were
the outcome of regal magnificence, being erected by his successors in his
honour. Memnon seems to have been a Greek corruption of the name
of one of the Egyptian kings, and further reference •will be made as to its
derivation. The Arabs called these statues "Shama" and "Tama," and
when speaking of them together gave them the appellation of Sanamat,
or the idols. Both were monoliths of sandstone conglomerate. The
northern one, however, was once overthrown and broken, but was repaired
by Septimus Severus. We see the marks of the reparation from the
shoulders down to the waist, this part being built up of slabs of stone
varying in composition from the original blocks.
the legend. In one inscription Ave read that -three Roman officers,
Instuleius Tenax, Valerius Priscus, and Lucius Quintus Viator, " heard
Memnon in the year XI. of Nero, our Emperor, the 12th of the calends
of April, at 1 o'clock." And again, Titus Lutius Lupus, Prefect of Egypt,
says, " I have heard Memnon the 12th of the calends of April, at the 1st
hour."
These old monuments, which bear the name of Amunoph III., were
the outcome of regal magnificence, being erected by his successors in his
honour. Memnon seems to have been a Greek corruption of the name
of one of the Egyptian kings, and further reference •will be made as to its
derivation. The Arabs called these statues "Shama" and "Tama," and
when speaking of them together gave them the appellation of Sanamat,
or the idols. Both were monoliths of sandstone conglomerate. The
northern one, however, was once overthrown and broken, but was repaired
by Septimus Severus. We see the marks of the reparation from the
shoulders down to the waist, this part being built up of slabs of stone
varying in composition from the original blocks.