Luxor was in the spotlight this week, Nevine El-Aref reports Luxor was in the spotlight this week. On its east bank, the French-Egyptian Centre for the study of the Karnak Temples (CFEETK) came across what is believed to be a 17th-Dynasty granary gate revealing the name of a new pharaoh to be added to the king list of ancient Egypt. On the west bank, meanwhile, the multi-national European archaeological mission working at the funerary temple of the 18th-Dynasty pharaoh Amenhotep III re-erected a quartzite colossus of the pharaoh in its original position following seven years of restoration. It seems that Karnak Temples are continuing to reveal further secrets that will enable Egyptologists to decipher more about the enigmas and mysteries of ancient Egyptian history. Karnak, the largest of Egypt's temple complexes, was the combined achievement of several generations of rulers through the Middle and New kingdoms of ancient Egypt. Its three main temples were dedicated to Amun-Re, Mut and Montu, but there are also smaller enclosed temples constructed by various pharaohs as well as several chapels, obelisks, gates and a large Sacred Lake. During a routine excavation and cleaning exercise on the north side of the Amun-Re Temple, French-Egyptian archaeologists discovered a 17th-Dynasty granary gate carved in limestone and engraved with a hieroglyphic text and the cartouche of a hitherto unknown 17th-Dynasty pharaoh named Sen-Nakht-En-Re. It seems that he was the great-grandfather of Pharaoh Ahmose I, who as a general ousted the Hyksos from Egypt and founded the 18th Dynasty. "It is a very significant discovery," Minister of State for Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim said. He added that the discovery could lead to a significant breakthrough in the history of this crucial dynasty, which began after a military campaign that succeeded in expelling the Hyksos from Egypt. "It also adds another name to the ancient Egypt's kings list," he added. Mansour Boreik, general supervisor of the Luxor monuments, told Al-Ahram Weekly that although the name of this king appears twice on monuments dating from the Ramesside period and the reign of Ahmose I, archaeologists thought the name was that of an imaginary king, since no monuments attributed to him had ever been discovered. Nevertheless, Boreik continued, the discovery of this engraved gate proved that this theory was incorrect, since the first known monument built by this particular pharaoh during his lifetime had now been found. Early studies on the text written on the gate reveal that the pharaoh built it of limestone blocks transported from the Tora area in Helwan, which at the time was under the rule of the Hyksos. Ibrahim asked Christophe Thiers, head of the excavation mission, to continue excavating so as to learn more about the gate in case it led to the location of the granaries. Following seven years of reassembling and restoration, a 13-metre tall colossus of Amenhotep III has been raised in its original position at Kom Al-Hittan on the west bank, where the funerary temple of Tutankhamun's grandfather Amenhotep III once stood in its entirety. At one time there was also a huge colossus of Amenhotep III neighbouring the pair known as the Colossi of Memnon. Nothing was known about this colossus until it was found in 2004 half buried under the alluvial Nile soil. It lay in seven pieces at the temple's northern end, almost 100 metres behind the gigantic Colossi of Memnon. The Egyptian-European team of archaeologists led by Horig Sourouzian who found it transported the pieces to the site laboratory, where it was restored and eventually reassembled. The restoration was completed in 2011, and on Saturday Ibrahim witnessed the process of lifting the colossus into an upright position. Sourouzian said that the statue was one of a pair that once stood at the temple's northern gate, but that when a massive earthquake struck in 1200 BC the whole temple crumbled, along with the colossi. Ibrahim described the colossus as a masterpiece of ancient Egyptian royal sculpture. It is 13 metres tall and depicts Pharaoh Amenhotep III seated on a decorated throne and accompanied by a very well preserved miniature statue of his wife, Queen Tiye, standing next to his right leg.
