A 13-meter (42 feet) high statue of the 18th dynasty Pharaoh Amenhotep III, which was broken into pieces after an earthquake in 1200 B.C., was restored and re-erected at the northern entrance of the Pharaoh’s funerary temple on the west bank of Luxor, Youm7 reported Monday.
“The restored statue now stands again for the first time since its collapse 3,200 years ago and after more than two years of renovation, the archaeologists reassembled 89 massive and small fragments of the 110 ton-weight monolith,” German-Armenian archaeologist Horig Sourouzian, Head of the Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project (CMATCP), was quoted by Youm7 Monday.
Amenhotep III’s mortuary temple is already famous for its 21-meter high colossal statues of Memnon depicting the Pharaoh in a seated position, his hands resting on his knees and his gaze facing eastwards.
“The restored statue shows the king in a striding forward position wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt, and on each hand, he is depicted holding the seal of the Egyptian kingdom inscribed with his cartouche,” said Sourouzian.
He is shown wearing the royal skirt with his cartouche carved at the center of his belt and holding a dagger with a falcon-head handle, he added.
Amenhotep III, the ninth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty, ruled Egypt from 1386 B.C. to 1349 B.C. and his reign is believed to have marked the political and cultural zenith of ancient Egyptian civilization, archaeologist Sherif el-Sabban previously told The Cairo Post.
He was succeeded by his son Amenhotep IV, better known as Akhenaten, according to el-Sabban.A 13-meter (42 feet) high statue of the 18th dynasty Pharaoh Amenhotep III, which was broken into pieces after an earthquake in 1200 B.C., was restored and re-erected at the northern entrance of the Pharaoh’s funerary temple on the west bank of Luxor, Youm7 reported Monday.
“The restored statue now stands again for the first time since its collapse 3,200 years ago and after more than two years of renovation, the archaeologists reassembled 89 massive and small fragments of the 110 ton-weight monolith,” German-Armenian archaeologist Horig Sourouzian, Head of the Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project (CMATCP), was quoted by Youm7 Monday.
Amenhotep III’s mortuary temple is already famous for its 21-meter high colossal statues of Memnon depicting the Pharaoh in a seated position, his hands resting on his knees and his gaze facing eastwards.
“The restored statue shows the king in a striding forward position wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt, and on each hand, he is depicted holding the seal of the Egyptian kingdom inscribed with his cartouche,” said Sourouzian.
He is shown wearing the royal skirt with his cartouche carved at the center of his belt and holding a dagger with a falcon-head handle, he added.
Amenhotep III, the ninth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty, ruled Egypt from 1386 B.C. to 1349 B.C. and his reign is believed to have marked the political and cultural zenith of ancient Egyptian civilization, archaeologist Sherif el-Sabban previously told The Cairo Post.
He was succeeded by his son Amenhotep IV, better known as Akhenaten, according to el-Sabban.
