The reconstruction of Amenhotep III statues at Kom El Hetan will start Tomorrow

Tomorrow 18^th February 2013, the minister of Antiquities in co-operation with the European mission headed by Dr. Hourig Sourouzian will start moving the blocks and massive parts of the two statues of Amenhotep III which were re-discovered lately in Kom El Hetan (More about the discovery and the photographs,please click Here) in order to restore and re-erect them.  A number of the ministry officials will be attended with Mr. Adel Abd El Satar, Secretary General of the SCA, on behalf of the minister.

Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim said that the moving process will take two days using heavy machinery and latest techniques. After the two statues are moved to their new location, the restoration will start immediately guided by an inscription found on the back of one of the statues showing how the statues looked when it was erected which give a clear idea on how it should be like and will help in restoring them successfully in order to open them to public as also a lights’ system will be installed to turn them into a new tourist attraction spot.

Dr, Mohamed Abd El Maqsoud, Deputy Director of the Egyptian Antiquities department and the head of the Egyptian team, explained that these statues are considered the highest of the King standing as they are 14 meters high, based on 4 meters high base which makes the total height 18 meters and they weigh 100 Tons each. 

Alabaster Statue of Amenhotep III found on west bank

A statue of King Tut’s grandfather “Amenhotep III” was found by the Egyptian European mission excavating at Kom El Hetan site of the funerary temple of Amenhotep III on west bank,Luxor.
The discovered alabaster statue shows the King sitting with the royal headgear. The mission found the head of the statue separate during the excavation work in the corridor leading to the third pylon of the temple.

Dr. Zahi Hawass says that the statue is one of two statues once stood on the sides of the temple but they were destroyed because of the earthquake that hit Egypt during the Roman period and destroyed the whole temple except for the colossus of Memnon.
The head of the mission said “that discovery is important as it shows the different arts style in Ancient Egypt especially sculpture as this statue was carved at Hatnob in middle Egypt where only few large statues were carved. The mission also found a head for a god during the documentation of the open yard. The head measures about 28.5 cm and the beard in good condition and it was moved to the storage where a part of the left ear, which was found during a previous season, was attached to the head.
Mohamed Abd El Fatah (Head of the Egyptian Antiquities) said “the mission restored and put together parts of a stele of red Quartz that was found at the site. The mission found 160 pieces of the stele on the ground before they were recorded, cleaned and put together. Most of the stele that measures 9 meters (about 7.40 meters restored). It contains 25 lines of hieroglyphic text of the names and numbers of the temple that Amenhotep III built for Theban gods.”

The mission will continue to work on putting the tablets together in the next excavation season after putting the circular top which shows Amenhotep III and Queen Ti giving offerings to Amon Re.

A statue of Amenhotep III was found: The largest so far

During the current excavation at the Amenhotep III temple on west bank,Luxor, a statue of Amenhotep III was found. 13 meters and 65 centimeters height makes this coloured Quartz statue the largest was found for Amenhotep III so far. The statue is broken into 7 large pieces and was found on the site where the mission headed by Dr. Zahi Hawass works for the past seven months.  

Dr. Zahi Hawass says “This statue was one of two statues once stood at the northern entrance of Amenhotep III and they were probably destroyed during the earthquake took place in Egypt in 27 B.C and they were buried since then.”

Zahi added “at the moment the process of restoring the statue and putting it together is ongoing to re-erect the statue in its original site. The head of the statue is still buried underground and excavation is on. Probably the discovery of the other Amenhotep statue will be found during this season.

Archaeologist Abd El-Ghafar Wagdy(site inspector) said that the Egyptian mission headed by Dr. Zahi Hawass also found another black granite statue of Goddess Sekhmet measures 185 cm height and 74 cm width at the north of Amenhotep III temple as King Amenhotep III was interested in making statues of Sekhmet (Goddess of Healing in Ancient Egypt) when he was ill in his late days. Also a part of a statue represents God Thot in a shape of a Baboon.

New Statue found on west bank,Luxor

Almost 4 weeks ago we published the news about the discovery of a double statue of Amenhotep III beside Amon Re and the only standing Thot statue found so far. Now the new discovery is in the same area.

SCA mission working on the site known as Kom Hetan on west bank,Luxor has found the upper part of a double statue of red granite for Amenhotep III (1410-1372 B.C) in the north west of Amenhotep III temple site.

The statue represents Amenhotep III next to Re Hor Akheti in a shape of a falcon or hawk. Amehotep III left behind many statues with different Ancient Egyptian gods like Amon Re,Mut,Bastet,Sobek and Sekhmet.
The German mission who is working on Amenhotep III temple behind the statues of Memnons has found nearly 80 statues of Sekhmet as she was the goddess of healing and the King was sick for a while at the end of his reign.
When Dr. Zahi Hawass was checking the south east area of the temple he found a number of statues underground in an area was infringed by farmers nearby since a long time ago and Dr. Samir Farag the governor is negotiating with the farmers in the surrounded area to take the land for a compensation in order to convert it into an open display area for the found artefacts

Amenhotep III statue found on west bank,Luxor

Minister of Culture announced that the SCA team working at the north west of Amenhotep III temple on west bank, Luxor in the area called Kom El Hetan,has found the upper part of a double granite statue of Amenhotep III (1410-1372 B.C). Dr. Zahi Hawass the head of the mission said that the statue represent Amenhotep III sitting on his throne next to the Theban God, Amon.

Hawass believes that this statue is one of the most magnificent royal sculptures that were found recently when it comes to the attention to details and accuracy of the sculptor. Also Zahi refers that Pharaoh wearing the double crown for upper and Lower Egypt. It is known that Amenhotep III has many statues represents him with different gods and goddesses like Bastet and Sobek (currently on display at Luxor Museum which was found about 20 years ago).
Dr. Zahi Hawass said “It may refer to another cache for Amenhotep III statues nearby”
The part that was found of the statue measures 130 cm high and 95 cm wide and work is going on to uncover more parts which is expected to be around 3 meters tall when completed.

New discovery by Amenhotep III Temple on West Bank, Luxor

A red granite colossus of the ancient Egyptian deity of wisdom, Thoth, was unearthed at the northwestern side of King Amenhotep III’s funerary temple on the west bank of Luxor.

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni announced the find today, explaining that the statue is 3.5 meters tall and 140 cm wide, and was discovered during routine excavations carried out by an Egyptian archaeological team led by Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA).
Hawass said that evidence at the site where the colossus was found suggests that more colossi could be found here, as a similar statue 5 meters in height was discovered there last year.
Afifi Rohayem, the assistant of the mission’s director, said that the site could contain an avenue of Thoth statues that once outlined the original path leading to the temple.
Traces of these colossi were first uncovered at the site during the execution of a development project aimed at controlling the subterranean water level on Luxor’s west bank. As part of the process Dr. Hawass assigned a special excavation mission to explore the site.