Friday, October 08, 2010

More re granite statue of Tutankhamun's grandfather Amenhotep III

Al Ahram Weekly

A granite statue of Tutankhamun's grandfather Amenhotep III was unearthed this week on the west bank at Luxor, reports Nevine El-Aref

Egyptian excavators from the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) unearthed a granite statue depicting the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III this week in the Kom Al-Hittan area of the west bank at Luxor, where the Pharaoh's temple would once have stood with its many vast halls and gigantic statues.

The statue, depicting the Pharaoh seated on a throne and accompanied by the god Amun, shows Amenhotep wearing the double crown of Egypt decorated with the uraeus. the stylised, upright form of an Egyptian spitting cobra often used on ancient Egyptian royal regalia.

According to Zahi Hawass, secretary- general of the SCA, the statue is one of the most important recent finds to have been made at Luxor because of its expert craftsmanship that reflects the skill of ancient Egyptian artisans.

Amenhotep III is a well-known Pharaoh because of the many other surviving statues of him, Hawass said, many of these showing him with various deities, such as Amun-Re, Re-Horakhti, Bastet and Sobek.

3 comments:

Gordon Napier said...

Noticable that the statue of the god but not the king has lost its head. Could that be the result of Amarna era iconoclasm?

Anonymous said...

Pretty sad how one of Egypt's greatest pharaohs is referred to by his relation to Tutankhamun.

Andie said...

Yes I suppose it is a shame, but I think that the title of the article was probably for the benefit of the readers of the newspaper who aren't familiar with Pharaonic history.