LUXOR - An expedition of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) has found 12 new sphinx statues from the reign of Nectanebo I (380-362 BC) at the Avenue of the sphinxes in Upper Egypt, Minister of Culture Farouq Hosni said Monday. These sphinx statues were found in the last sector of the Avenue of the Sphinxes in Luxor in southern Egypt, he added. Zahi Hawass, the Secretary General of the SCA, said the discovery was not located within the known road of the Avenue of the Sphinxes between Karnak and Luxor Temples, but instead at the end of the newly discovered road of Nectanebo I. Mansour Boraik, the Supervisor of Luxor Antiquities, noted that this is the first time a new road running from east to west toward the Nile, has been found. The most interesting part of this new discovery is that the 20 metres excavated are built from sandstone from the quarries at Gebel Silsila, north of Aswan. The total length of this road to the Nile is about 600 metres. Hawass said that along this way the sacred boat of Amun, king of the gods, travelled on the god's annual trip to visit his wife, Mut, at Luxor Temple, and the king used it as well for religious processions. This discovery marks the first time that archaeology has revealed this route, which is mentioned in many ancient texts. Besides the sphinx statues, which are inscribed with the name of Nectanebo I, the excavation team also recovered Roman period objects, including an oil press and pottery, according to officials.
