The New Student's Reference Work/Vocal Memnon

Vo′cal Mem′non. On the western side of the Nile near the temple of Luxor we find the ruins of the Memnonium or great temple of Amenophis III. Very little is left; but two huge, seated colossi 60 feet high of Amenophis III still remain in defiant grandeur. These statues attracted little or no attention until 27 B. C., when the upper part of one was broken off by an earthquake, and after that it was observed that the remaining bulk gave forth a prolonged wail when wet with morning dew and warmed by the rays of the rising sun. The vocal Memnon became a great factor in Greek mythology, as the Greeks and Romans were frequent travelers in Egypt in those days. See Temple of Karnak and Temple of Luxor.