by Nevine El-Aref , Friday 9 Dec 2016
Egyptian archaeologists excavating the Mortuary Temple of King Amenhotep III in Luxor have unearthed a number of statues of the goddess Sekhmet, daughter of the ancient Egyptian sun god Re, project director Hourig Sourouzian told Ahram Online on Thursday.
"They are of great artistic quality" Sourouzian said of the statues, which were found in four parts, including three busts and one headless torso, in the Kom El-Hettan archaeological area on Luxor's west bank.
Sourouzian oversees the work of the Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project, which is working to save the remains of the more than 3,000 year-old temple and eventually restore its dispersed artefacts to the site, to be presented in their original layout.
The project director said her team found the Sekhmet pieces in very good condition, buried in the temple's hypostyle hall—a roofed structure supported by columns. Several other statues of the goddess have been found previously on the same site.
According to Mahmoud Afifi, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Department at the Ministry of Antiquities, the lion-headed goddess Sekhmet was charged with defending her father Re against enemies.
The many statues of the goddess in the temple of Amenhotep III would also have been intended to protect the ruler from evil and disease, Afifi told Ahram Online.
"All statues of the goddess are now stored in warehouses supervised by the Ministry of Antiquities for security reasons,” Afifi said, adding that when excavations at the temple are completed and the site is opened to visitors, the statues will be placed back in their original setting.
In addition to the statues of Sekhmet, Sourouzian's team have uncovered large pieces of sphinxes carved in limestone, as well as a small torso of a deity in black granite, within the vicinity of the funerary temple's third pylon.
“The sphinxes are in a bad state of preservation and will need to be treated before being exposed,” she said.
Egypt's Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany is set to travel to Luxor on Monday, to inspect the newly discovered statues and attend the opening of a temporary exhibit to celebrate the 41st anniversary of the Luxor Museum.
The exhibit will display a collection of 40 artefacts discovered by archaeologists on the Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project.
The artefacts will include a collection of amulets, Greco-Roman coins, remains of clay pots and religious stelae—stone tablets or columns erected as tombstones or boundary markers.
Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/251690/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Statues-of-lioness-goddess-Sekhmet-unearthed-in-Lu.aspx
Showing posts with label Mortuary Temple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mortuary Temple. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Saturday, December 13, 2014
New discoveries at Luxor
By Rany Mostafa:
Tomb of “divine wife of God Amun” unearthed in Luxor
CAIRO: The tomb of “the divine wife of God Amun,” an ancient Egyptian title given only to royal wives, has been discovered at the mortuary temple of Pharaoh Ramses II in the west bank of Luxor, according to Abdel-Hakim Karar, director of the Upper Egypt Antiquities Department, Thursday.
“The tomb is relatively small with a stone door leading to a 5-meter shaft and a burial chamber, where funerary equipments, offerings and 20 well-preserved statuettes were found,” Karar told The Cairo Post Thursday.
The statuettes, found by the tomb’s entrance, bore the name of “Karomama” and hieroglyphic inscriptions describe her as “the earthly spouse of the god Amun,” and we believe she may have been the wife of the 22nd Dynasty’s Pharaoh Osorkon II (872B.C–837B.C.,) said Karar.
The discovery was made by French-Egyptian mission led by Christian Leblanc, a French archaeologist, who has been excavating in the mortuary temple and the tomb of Ramses II since 1980s.
“The new discovery may not be spectacular from the artistic point of view, but due to the scarcity of Karomama’s artifacts that have been discovered so far, it is definitely a significant find as it sheds more light on her life,” Leblanc was quoted by the Pharaoh Magazine Thursday.
Tomb of “divine wife of God Amun” unearthed in Luxor
CAIRO: The tomb of “the divine wife of God Amun,” an ancient Egyptian title given only to royal wives, has been discovered at the mortuary temple of Pharaoh Ramses II in the west bank of Luxor, according to Abdel-Hakim Karar, director of the Upper Egypt Antiquities Department, Thursday.
“The tomb is relatively small with a stone door leading to a 5-meter shaft and a burial chamber, where funerary equipments, offerings and 20 well-preserved statuettes were found,” Karar told The Cairo Post Thursday.
The statuettes, found by the tomb’s entrance, bore the name of “Karomama” and hieroglyphic inscriptions describe her as “the earthly spouse of the god Amun,” and we believe she may have been the wife of the 22nd Dynasty’s Pharaoh Osorkon II (872B.C–837B.C.,) said Karar.
The discovery was made by French-Egyptian mission led by Christian Leblanc, a French archaeologist, who has been excavating in the mortuary temple and the tomb of Ramses II since 1980s.
“The new discovery may not be spectacular from the artistic point of view, but due to the scarcity of Karomama’s artifacts that have been discovered so far, it is definitely a significant find as it sheds more light on her life,” Leblanc was quoted by the Pharaoh Magazine Thursday.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Archaeologists unearth bejeweled ancient Egyptian mummy
By Rany Mostafa
CAIRO: A team of Spanish archaeologists have unearthed a 4,000-year-old female mummy wearing jewels in the necropolis below the mortuary temple of Pharaoh Thutmosis III in the west bank of Luxor, Aly el-Asfar, the head of the Upper Egypt Antiquities Department, said Saturday.
Both the mummy and the wooden sarcophagus in which it was found were badly damaged and trapped under the tomb’s collapsed roof, and the site of the find dates back to the Middle Kingdom (2,000 B.C.-1,700 B.C.), Asfar told The Cairo Post.
“The sarcophagus was found sealed, which suggests the tomb and its contents apparently eluded tomb robbers in both ancient and modern times. It seems that the roof had already collapsed before tomb robbers were able to enter,” he added.
The mummy, who is believed to have been an aristocrat in her 30s, was found wearing intact jewelry, including a gold-plated necklace inlaid with lapis lazuli, a shell-shaped golden pendant, two badly damaged silver ankle bracelets and two golden bracelets on her wrists, according to Asfar.
CAIRO: A team of Spanish archaeologists have unearthed a 4,000-year-old female mummy wearing jewels in the necropolis below the mortuary temple of Pharaoh Thutmosis III in the west bank of Luxor, Aly el-Asfar, the head of the Upper Egypt Antiquities Department, said Saturday.
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| Credit: Manuel González Bustos/Thutmosis III Temple Project |
“The sarcophagus was found sealed, which suggests the tomb and its contents apparently eluded tomb robbers in both ancient and modern times. It seems that the roof had already collapsed before tomb robbers were able to enter,” he added.
The mummy, who is believed to have been an aristocrat in her 30s, was found wearing intact jewelry, including a gold-plated necklace inlaid with lapis lazuli, a shell-shaped golden pendant, two badly damaged silver ankle bracelets and two golden bracelets on her wrists, according to Asfar.
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