Today we commemorate the solemn visit of a very grief-stricken Emperor Hadrian to Thebes and the Colossi of Memnon less than a month after the demise of his Beloved Antinous. Antinous had drowned at the end of October and Hadrian had issued decrees establishing Antinoopolis at the spot on the shores of the Nile where his Beloved had died. Hadrian probably left the body with priests before the Imperial Entourage continued its scheduled tour up the Nile to the historic city of Thebes. The Colossi of Memnon stand at the entrance of what was a great temple for Amenophis III. By the time Emperor Hadrian arrived, the statues were in a ruinous state and emitted a wailing sound at dawn when the rising sun heated the stone. Greeks and Romans traveled from afar to hear the statues speak to them. Hadrian left graffiti here. Flamen ANTONIUS SUBIA writes: After the death of Antinous, the Imperial entourage visited the ancient city of Thebes in the Upper Nile, it was the furthest south that Hadrian ever journeyed. The court visited the two Colosoi of Memnon, which are monumental seated statues of Amenhotep III built in the 18th dynasty. It was said that a ringing sound was emitted by the statues in the early mourning, and that anyone who heard the statues speak was favored by the gods, as the belief was that the statues were of Memnon, the son of Aurora. Hadrian did not hear the sound, but the empress Sabina did. The God of Thebes was Amon, the ram-headed, who was equated with Jupiter. Julia Balbilla, poetess and companion of Sabina, who was with the court throughout the voyage and was present at the Death and Liberation of Antinous, wrote these words. These are the first words written after the death of Antinous. They were inscribed, like graffiti on the Colossus of Memnon. I, Balbilla, when the rock spoke, heard the voice of the divine Memnon or Phamenoth. I came here with the lovely Empress Sabina. The course of the sun was in its first hour, in the fifteenth year of Hadrians reign, on the twenty-fourth day of the month Hathor. I wrote this on the twenty-fifth day of the month Hathor. Full report at the Antinous the Gay God Blog: antinousgaygod.blogspot/2014/11/sorrowing-hadrian-waits-for-colossi-of.html
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 09:42:28 +0000
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