Wednesday, March 17, 2010

More discoveries from the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III

Yahoo!

NB - the photograph currently showing on the page is not from the site - it is not even from Egypt - but is part of a slideshow of general archaeology and anthropology photographs.

A team of archaeologists unearthed two large red granite statues in southern Egypt at the mortuary temple of one of the most powerful pharaohs, who ruled nearly 3,400 years ago, the Culture Ministry said Tuesday.

A ministry statement said the team discovered a 13 foot (4 meter) statue of Thoth, the ancient god of wisdom and the top part of a statue of Pharaoh Amenhotep III standing next to another god.

Both were found buried in the pharaoh's mortuary temple on the west bank of the Nile in the southern temple city of Luxor.

On Feb. 28, archaeologists discovered a massive red granite head of Amenhotep III at the same temple.

Zawya

Egyptian archaeologists have discovered a colossal ancient statue of the pharaonic deity of wisdom, Thoth, in the shape of a baboon, the council of antiquities said in a statement on Tuesday.

The four-metre (13-foot) tall statue was discovered in four pieces along with two statues while workers were lowering ground waters beneath Luxor to help preserve the city's pharaonic temples, the statement said.

It dates back to the 18th Dynasty, which ruled Egypt until 1292 BC.

"It is the first time that a statue of Thoth, depicting him as a monkey, of this magnitude has been discovered," Mansur Boraik, head of pharaonic antiquities in Luxor, told AFP.

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