Deep in the south of Egypt, on the west bank of the Nile facing the historic capital Thebes, stand two 60-foot-tall statues of the pharaoh Amenhotep III (14th century BCE). By the time the Romans annexed Egypt in 30 BCE, these colossi were an ancient remnant of the grandeur of the pharaoh’s mortuary temple, doomed by the Nile’s floodwaters, that they had once fronted.

It was not just the visual impact of the lonely, poignant pair that captivated visitors, but also the extraordinary whistling sounds that emanated from the northern statue at dawn, likely the result of earthquake damage in 26 BCE.