DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4020#0065
AND NUBIA.
measure entire, and we see on it some hieroglyphics, snch as knives, semi-circles
and other figures.
The rest of this colosTus is so disfigured and dismembered, that it was not
poslible for me to take an exact measure of it. I imagine, however, that
its height musf be about twenty feet.
All these marks ieem to indicate, that it is here we must seek for the vocal
ilatueof Memnon, which Strabo, Pausanias, Philostratus, Lucian, Ju-
venal, Tacitus, and divers other ancient authors, Greek and Latin, have men-
tioned. Yet I am not presumptuous enough to determine any thing about it
on my own judgment; I leave to others, more learned than I am, to pronounce
on that pointh.
As the greater!: partofthose authors relate, that the statue of Memnon gave a
certain sound at the rising of the sun, I was curious to strike, with a key,
upon what remains of this colosTal figure ; but as the whole is solid, it does not
give any more sound than another block of granite, which is sunk in the ground.
The sepulchral urn, that is seen in the first pyramid, tho' it rests entirely upon
its base, sounds however like a bell, but it must be observed that it has an
hollow1.
There is besldes that in this place another colosTus, marked letter H. It
is entire, and of a single piece of granite marble; but its height is very moderate.
It is at present thrown down, lying on its face, and half buried in the ground.
All that we can see of it appears to be no ways damaged; and with regard to
the attitude, it is the same as that of the other colosses I have mentioned.
I s a w likewise a colosTal head, dressed in the Egyptian manner, and which
is represented under the letter /. It has two feet in height, is made of black
granite, in the taste of the ancients, and finilhed with a great deal of art and
labour. It has together with this a simplicity that is charming, and which
gives one reason to judge, that the rest of the colosTus must have been executed
S3
h It is very remarkable, that neither Herodotus
nor Diodorus Siculus have made any mention of
this vocal statue of Memnon. Diodorus indeed
mentions, in a passage that I have translated from
him above, that the three statues at the entrance of
the sepulchre of Osymandyas were the work of
Mljuvov©- rS Zwrnry, but this is manifestly a corrupt
reading. Vide Wzsszlikgii Edit, vol. i. pag. 56.
What gives the story of this vocal ftatue the moft
credit with me, is the authority os Tacitus, who says,
" Ceterum Germanicus aliis quoque miraculis in-
tendit animum, quorum prsecipua fuereMEMNONis
saxea effigies, ubi radiis solis ieta est vocalem sonum
reddens ; disjectasque inter et vix pervias arenas
instar montium eduste pyramides."
But it is very possible that Tacitus might have
given too great credit to the reports os Germanicus.
Strabo's account os it is this:
" Of two colosses, consisting of an entire stone,
and near to each other, the one is still preserved,
but of the other the upper parts from the seat are
Vol. II.
fallen down, occasioned, as they say, by an earth-
quake. It is believed, that once every day a noise,
as of a stroke, but not a great one, is made from the
remaining part in the seat and base: and I being
on the spotwith ^Elius'Gallus, and a multitude
of his friends and soldiers attending him, about the
first hour of the day heard the noise, but whether
from the base, or the colosTus, or whether it was made
purposely by some one of those that slood round
the base, I cannot affirm. On account of the un-
certainty of the cause, I am inclined to believe any
thing rather than this, that a sound is emitted from
stones so disposed." page 816. Edit. Paris.
In allusion to the sall os a-part os the ftatue, occa-
stonedby an earthquake, Juvenal has said
« Dimidio magicae resonant ubi Memnone chords."
Sat. xv. ver. 5.
* Doctor Shaw remarks, " That it gave the
musical note E-la-mi, if he remembers right."
pag. 421.
P by
measure entire, and we see on it some hieroglyphics, snch as knives, semi-circles
and other figures.
The rest of this colosTus is so disfigured and dismembered, that it was not
poslible for me to take an exact measure of it. I imagine, however, that
its height musf be about twenty feet.
All these marks ieem to indicate, that it is here we must seek for the vocal
ilatueof Memnon, which Strabo, Pausanias, Philostratus, Lucian, Ju-
venal, Tacitus, and divers other ancient authors, Greek and Latin, have men-
tioned. Yet I am not presumptuous enough to determine any thing about it
on my own judgment; I leave to others, more learned than I am, to pronounce
on that pointh.
As the greater!: partofthose authors relate, that the statue of Memnon gave a
certain sound at the rising of the sun, I was curious to strike, with a key,
upon what remains of this colosTal figure ; but as the whole is solid, it does not
give any more sound than another block of granite, which is sunk in the ground.
The sepulchral urn, that is seen in the first pyramid, tho' it rests entirely upon
its base, sounds however like a bell, but it must be observed that it has an
hollow1.
There is besldes that in this place another colosTus, marked letter H. It
is entire, and of a single piece of granite marble; but its height is very moderate.
It is at present thrown down, lying on its face, and half buried in the ground.
All that we can see of it appears to be no ways damaged; and with regard to
the attitude, it is the same as that of the other colosses I have mentioned.
I s a w likewise a colosTal head, dressed in the Egyptian manner, and which
is represented under the letter /. It has two feet in height, is made of black
granite, in the taste of the ancients, and finilhed with a great deal of art and
labour. It has together with this a simplicity that is charming, and which
gives one reason to judge, that the rest of the colosTus must have been executed
S3
h It is very remarkable, that neither Herodotus
nor Diodorus Siculus have made any mention of
this vocal statue of Memnon. Diodorus indeed
mentions, in a passage that I have translated from
him above, that the three statues at the entrance of
the sepulchre of Osymandyas were the work of
Mljuvov©- rS Zwrnry, but this is manifestly a corrupt
reading. Vide Wzsszlikgii Edit, vol. i. pag. 56.
What gives the story of this vocal ftatue the moft
credit with me, is the authority os Tacitus, who says,
" Ceterum Germanicus aliis quoque miraculis in-
tendit animum, quorum prsecipua fuereMEMNONis
saxea effigies, ubi radiis solis ieta est vocalem sonum
reddens ; disjectasque inter et vix pervias arenas
instar montium eduste pyramides."
But it is very possible that Tacitus might have
given too great credit to the reports os Germanicus.
Strabo's account os it is this:
" Of two colosses, consisting of an entire stone,
and near to each other, the one is still preserved,
but of the other the upper parts from the seat are
Vol. II.
fallen down, occasioned, as they say, by an earth-
quake. It is believed, that once every day a noise,
as of a stroke, but not a great one, is made from the
remaining part in the seat and base: and I being
on the spotwith ^Elius'Gallus, and a multitude
of his friends and soldiers attending him, about the
first hour of the day heard the noise, but whether
from the base, or the colosTus, or whether it was made
purposely by some one of those that slood round
the base, I cannot affirm. On account of the un-
certainty of the cause, I am inclined to believe any
thing rather than this, that a sound is emitted from
stones so disposed." page 816. Edit. Paris.
In allusion to the sall os a-part os the ftatue, occa-
stonedby an earthquake, Juvenal has said
« Dimidio magicae resonant ubi Memnone chords."
Sat. xv. ver. 5.
* Doctor Shaw remarks, " That it gave the
musical note E-la-mi, if he remembers right."
pag. 421.
P by