Ancient Egyptian King Statues Found

The statues were unearthed at the pharaoh's mortuary temple on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the modern city of Luxor. Known as Kom el-Hettân, this complex was the largest of its kind in ancient Egypt, covering an immense 35 hectares (86 acres) when it was built. Amenhotep III, the ninth king of the 18th Dynasty, presided over a period of unprecedented peace and artistic flourishing. His reign is considered a golden age, and he commissioned over 1,000 statues of himself, more than any other pharaoh. He was the grandfather of the famous boy-king Tutankhamun. The temple's most famous remaining features are the two 18-meter (60-foot) high statues at its entrance, known as the Colossi of Memnon. These quartzite figures, each weighing around 720 tons, have stood for over 3,400 years and were a famous tourist attraction even for ancient Greeks and Romans. The grand temple was intentionally built close to the Nile, allowing annual floods to inundate the outer courts, symbolizing creation. This design, however, combined with a major earthquake around 1200 B.C., contributed to its rapid decay. Later pharaohs then used the ruins as a quarry for their own building projects. The recent discoveries are part of the "Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project," led by archaeologist Hourig Sourouzian. The project has also uncovered hundreds of statues of the lion-headed goddess Sekhmet, possibly commissioned by the pharaoh to seek healing from illness late in his life. Archaeologists are working to reassemble the newly discovered statues from fragments. One colossal figure, found in 89 large pieces, weighs 110 tonnes and stands 12.9 meters (43 feet) tall now that it has been re-erected at the temple's northern gate.