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Egyptian-Deutsch Archeological Mission Discovers Horus Statue in Luxor


Thu 19 Dec 2019 | 11:50 PM
Ali Abu Dashish

The Egyptian-Deutsch archeological mission, led by Dr. Houreg Suruzyan, an Armenian-German archeologist, unearthed a giant statute of Hours, one of the holy trinity in Ancient Egypt.

The mission was digging in remnants of the Hall of Columns in Ramesseum, a royal temple in the west bank of the Nile River next to Luxor.

The temple belongs to King Amenhotep III, the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty in Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt.

Fathy Yassin, Director of Antiquities of Western Luxor, explained that the newly dug statue was made of black granite. Its height is 1.85 cm and it depicts Hours as a standing hawk wearing a mask. The statue lost its legs but the two arms were broken.

Dr. Houreg Suruzyan added that this statue was discovered while experts were restoring of Colossi of Memnon and Temple Amenhotep III.

That project started since 1988 under the supervision of the Ministry of Antiquities and German Archaeological Institute in Cairo to save relics of the temple and to rebuild it newly.

He went on to say that the statue was in good status and it has a unique value to reveal the comprehensive image of the temple.

The temple was demolished by a strong earthquake took place in the 28th B.C. Stones of the temple were used in constructing other statues and royal temples in the era of a number of kings named Ramesses of the Middle Kingdom in Ancient Egypt. The statue of Hours is still under restoration so far.

The Egyptian –Deutsch mission is going to research for the lost limbs of the royal statue. The experts also found busts of some deities in Ancient Egypt.

The mission unearthed numerous statues of King Amenhotep III and his wife Queen Tiye and a big number of statues and images of Sekhmet, a female deity depicted as a she-lion.

It is known that Amenhotep III installed a big number of statues in his funereal temple for Sekhmet to beg its protection because it was described as the strong to defend the king against diseases and to cure him.

Contributed by Ahmed Moamar