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Two large statutes of an ancient pharaoh Amenhotep III who ruled Egypt some 3,400 years ago, were discovered by a team of Egyptian and European archaeologists; while the excavation team was clearing out a temple dedicated to this pharaoh on the west bank of the Nile in the southern city of Luxor, according to a statement by Zahi Hawass,
Head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
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Hawass said one statute is made of black granite and shows Amenhotep wearing a traditional Pharaonic head cover, while the second one depicts him in the shape of sphinx - the mythological creature with a human head and the body of a lion.,
Amenhotep was the ninth pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, in what is known as the New Kingdom. He ruled for around 40 years during the 14th century B.C. He was the father of pharaoh Akhenaten who tried to make ancient Egyptians worship a single god, the sun god Ra, making him one of the first known proponents of monotheism.,
Luxor is one of the most popular tourist sites in Egypt, famous for its Valley of the Kings and other ruins from Pharaonic times. |
