ANOTHER gigantic statue of Pharaoh Amenhotep III was unearthed late last week on Luxor's west bank, reports Nevine El-Aref Archaeologists from the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) found the incomplete statue on the northwestern side of Amenhotep's funerary temple on Luxor's west bank. Only the upper part of the double red granite statue was unearthed, but it is identified as Amenhotep III, the grandfather of Tutankhamun, accompanied by the falcon headed sun god Re- Horakhti. The statue is one of several found on the site. Two weeks ago the mission unearthed a red granite statue of the Pharaoh with the Theben god Amun-Re. Amenhotep is wearing the double crown of Egypt, which is decorated with a uraeus. Over the last six months the mission has found several statues depicting Amenhotep with the solar god, Amun-Re, as well as a granite colossus featuring Thoth, the god of wisdom, in the form of a baboon. "This is the first time that we have found a standing statue of the god Thoth," said SCA Secretary-General Zahi Hawass, who led the excavation team. Amenhotep III, whose long reign in the 18th Dynasty lasted from 1389 to 1351 BC, is known for his overwhelming amount of statuary, particularly group statuary featuring the Pharaoh with such deities as Amun-Re, Re-Horakhti, Bastet, Sobek and Sekhmet, the goddess of healing. The Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project under the direction of Hourig Sourouzian, an authority on Egyptian royal statuary, has unearthed more than 80 statues of the goddess Sekhmet during excavations at the temple. It has been suggested that the Sekhmet statues were erected because Amenhotep III was very sick during his final years. "The newly-discovered statue is one of the best finds in the area because of its expert craftsmanship, which reflects the skill of the ancient Egyptian artisans," Hawass said. According to Mansour Boraik, general supervisor of the Luxor Antiquities Department of the SCA, a number of group statues of Amenhotep III are still partially buried under private farmland that surrounds the temple. The SCA and Samir Farag, governor of Luxor, are trying to reach an agreement with the farmer to buy this section of land so that the statues can be fully excavated. In the future the area will be converted into an open-air museum that will display the objects found in the mortuary temple complex. By Nevine El-Aref
