Editing Colossi of Memnon (section)

== Roman era inscriptions ==
The statues contain 107 Roman-era inscriptions in Greek and Latin, dated between 20-250CE; these inscriptions allowed modern travellers to connect the statues to the classical Greek and Latin literature.<ref name="Rosenmeyer 2018 p.">{{cite book | last=Rosenmeyer | first=P.A. | title=The Language of Ruins: Greek and Latin Inscriptions on the Memnon Colossus | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2018 | isbn=978-0-19-062632-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-qVTDwAAQBAJ | access-date=2022-02-13 | page=}}</ref> Many of the inscriptions include the name "Memnon". Several of the inscriptions refer to sounds emitted by the statues,<ref name=":02"/> the most famous being poetry by [[Julia Balbilla]] recording multiple visits during November 130 CE in a party that included the [[Emperor Hadrian]] and his wife [[Vibia Sabina]]. Of the 107 Roman-era inscriptions: 61 of them are written in Greek, 45 are written in Latin, and one bilingual text is written.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rosenmeyer |first=Patricia A. |title=The language of ruins: Greek and Latin inscriptions on the Memnon colossus |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-062632-7 |location=New York}}</ref>

They were first studied in detail by [[Jean-Antoine Letronne]] in his 1831 ''La statue vocale de Memnon considérée dans ses rapports avec l'Égypte et la Grèce''<ref>{{cite book | last=Letronne | first=A.J. | title=La statue vocale de Memnon considérée dans ses rapports avec l'Égypte et la Grèce: étude historique faisant suite aux recherches pour servir à l'histoire de l'Égypte pendant la domination des grecs et des romains | publisher=Imprimerie royale | year=1833 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MkwGAAAAQAAJ | language=fr}} Also plates available [https://numelyo.bm-lyon.fr/f_view/BML:BML_00GOO0100137001102566580/ here]</ref> and then catalogued in the second volume (1848) of his ''Recueil des inscriptions grecques et latines de l'Égypte''.<ref>[https://numelyo.bm-lyon.fr/f_view/BML:BML_00GOO0100137001102566580/IMG00000031# Recueil des inscriptions grecques et latines de l'Égypte], volume 2, planches</ref>
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File:Colossi of Memnon 2022 19.jpg
File:Colossi of Memnon 2022 23.jpg
File:Colossi of Memnon 2022 26.jpg
File:Colossi of Memnon 2022 30.jpg
File:Memnon 11.jpg|Base inscriptions
File:Ancient Greek Graffiti ... (36688175375).jpg|Leg inscriptions
File:Memnonis crus dexterum - Pococke Richard - 1743.jpg|1743 transcription
File:Memnonis crus alterum - Pococke Richard - 1743.jpg|1743 transcription
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