Project to restore the colossi of Memnon on Luxor’s west bank to go ahead,
says Supreme Council of Antiquities
By Nevine El-Aref , Thursday 1 Dec 2011
In
collaboration with the European archaeological mission, the Supreme Council of
Antiquities (SCA) is undertaking a comprehensive project to restore the colossi
of Memnon on Luxor’s west bank.
The
project aims to return the 19.5 meters tall colossi to their original
appearance when the New Kingdom’s King Amenhotep III built them to decorate the
façade of his mortuary temple.
SCA
secretary-general Mostafa Amin told Ahram Online that the restoration would
also return all the missing pieces of the colossi, collapsed during the Roman
period, to their original positions.
Amin went
on to say that the bodies of both colossi would be consolidated, as well as two
Amenhotep III’s statues that were unearthed last year by the European
archaeological mission, which has been working at the site for more than ten
years.
In 27 BC,
a large earthquake reportedly shattered the eastern colossus, collapsing it
from the waist up and cracking the lower half. Following its rupture, the
remaining lower half of the statue was then reputed to "sing" on
various occasions – always within an hour or two of sunrise, usually right at
dawn. The sound was most often reported in February or March, but this is
probably more a reflection of the tourist season rather than any actual
pattern.
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