Memnonia

temples in honor of Memnon, were erected, one at Susa in Persia, the other at Thebes in Egypt. Two colossal statues of Amenhotep III at Thebes during the first century A. D. became connected with the myth of Memnon. One of these statues is called "the vocal Memnon." It had the peculiar property of giving out a musical note when the sun's rays first struck it in the morning. The phenomenon, if true, is thought to have been due to the expanding effect of heat upon a cold, damp stone. The low, humming sound was popularly supposed to be the greeting of Memnon to his mother, the Dawn.