Amenhotep III joins Luxor Museum

On World Heritage Day, Dr. Khaled El-Enany revealed Amenhotep III temple at the garden of Luxor Museum which was discovered by the European mission directed by Dr. Hourig Sourouzian at the site of Amenhotep III Temple at Kom El-Hittan. (Scroll down for video)

Above (Minister of Antiquities inspecting the newly discovered statue at the magazine of Kom El-Hitan site)

Above (Amenhotep III statue at Kom El-Hitan where it was discovered, March 2017)

The colossus depicts King Amenhotep III seated on the throne with hands resting flat on the thighs. The King is represented westing the nemes headgear and the pleated Royal shendyt (kilt), held at the waist with a belt decorated with zigzag lines and closed by an oval shaped clasp. A broad collar adorns the king's chest. The throne jambs and the back pillar of the statue are inscribed with the names of the King.

The colossus is considered as a masterpiece of ancient Egyptian sculptures carved in black granite, extremely well worked and perfectly polished. It is 248cm high, 61cm wide and 110cm deep.

It is almost intact but the head of the uraeus is missing, and the beard is broken along with the chin. However, one of the young restorers succeeded in finding the missing fragment of the chin, which was subsequently fixed at its place. 

Scientific examination of the inscription on the statue's back qualifies the King as one with numerous jubilees.

#Egypt #Luxor #AmenhotepIII #Egyptology #LuxorMuseum #WorldHeritageDay 

British Consul visits Amenhotep III colossi and hopes for more British tourists to come back to Luxor

On Wednesday, on his second day of an official visit to Luxor, British Consul in Egypt, John Hamilton has visited the site of the newly re-erected colossi statues of Amenhotep III at the Northern gate of the King’s funerary temple on the west bank of old Thebes.

Mr. Hamilton arrived at the site where he met with by Dr. Hourig Sourousian, the head of the European-Egyptian mission working at the site.

Dr. Hourig talked to the British Consul about the history of the temple, its enormous size, the project to save the colossi, moving the blocks and fragments from the fields nearby and re-assembling them at the current location.

Mr. Hamilton was impressed with the size and condition of the colossi after restoration and he shared Dr. Hourig’s wish to be able to see the complete site of Amenhotep III temple reconstructed where it once was standing as the biggest temple on the west bank in Luxor.

After the visit, Mr. Hamilton told Luxor Times “I was very impressed with what I have seen there, it is a great enhancement to the antiquities that are on show and a really good example of how the archaeologists working in cooperation with the local community and are able to rescue such important artefacts and display them in a good and sensitive manners so that many visiting tourists can enjoy them.”

Answering a question on what to say to British travellers, the British Consul said “There are many such great things to see here in Luxor and British tourists have been travelling here to Luxor for more than 150 years now and enjoying these sites in that time. I do hope that many more keep coming back and enjoy the many new developments from the old sites there are to see here.” 

#Egypt #Luxor #UKinEgypt #FCO #AmenhotepIII #Tourism #Travel #AncientEgypt #Antiquities

Amenhotep III colossi at the Northern gate of his temple is finally unveiled

The Amenhotep III temple conservation project unveiled today the two colossi statues of Amenhotep III at the king's funerary temple on the West Bank of Thebes. Dr. Mamdouh El Damaty, Minister of Antiquities with Tarek Saad ElDin, governor of Luxor were at the event to cut the ribbon for official unveiling the colossus to the public. Dr. Hourig Sourouzian gave a small speech at the event and she said "The two colossi are originally monolithic sculpture hewn in the red quartzite of Gebel El Ahmar near Ancient Heliopolis, in modern Cairo. After being toppled by an earthquake in 1200 B.C., they laid for centuries broken in several pieces in the fields, where they were threatened by the usual destructive factors irrigation water, salt, vegetation, fire and vandalism. The two colossi represent King Amenhotep III striding, holding in each hand a roll of papyrus inscribed with his name. The king wears the white crown of upper Egypt and the pleated Shendyt-kilt. A broad collar rendered in shallow relief adorns his chest. The belt around the waist is decorated with a zigzag pattern; better preserved on the East-Colossus the belt has a rectangular clasp bearing the names of the king, "Nebmaat-Re, Amenhotep Ruler of Thebes, beloved of Amon-Re". A dagger with a falcon headed handle in inserted in the belt. Each of the colossi stand on a rectangular base decorated with fecundity figures brining the offerings to their estates. The back slab is inscribed with the royal titulary and dedication texts to Amon-Re and Ptah-Sokar. In 2013, by approval of the Permanent committee, the re-erection of the colossi on bedrock, west if the fields was planned and carried out until their original site can be purchased. Once soil analysis and archaeological/geo-radar soundings proved that the ground was free of antiquities, two reinforced concrete foundations were poured to serve as solid pedestals for the colossi. On 20th of January 2014, work started with the eastern colossus which measures 12.35meters height. It's 71 large parts were gradually reassembled and the numerous smaller fragments were fixed on the body. The colossus was raised in March and unveiled on 24th of March. On 3rd of November, the new season started with the re-assembly work on the western colossus which was then raised on 2nd of December. Smaller pieces are now being progressively added and finer restoration work is ongoing. This colossus was more fragmented, with more missing parts. It consists 89 large pieces and numerous small fragments which are now assembled. The colossus measures 12.95meters height."  #Egypt #Luxor #AmenhotepIII #AncientEgypt