The enormous statues, the male Salsal ("light shines through the universe") and the (smaller) female Shamama ("Queen Mother"), as they were called by the locals, did not fail to fire the imagination of Islamic writers in centuries past.
De enorma statyerna, den manliga Salsal ("ljus skiner genom universum") och den (mindre) kvinnliga Shamama ("drottningsmodern"), som de kallades av lokalbefolkningen, väckte fantasin hos tidiga muslimska skribenter.