Two red granite statuary fragments of King Amenhotep III were unearthed this week at Amenhotep III’s (1410 – 1372 BC) mortuary temple on the west bank of Luxor. 

Two red granite statuary fragments found at the site of Amenhotep III's mortuary temple on the west bank of Luxor 

Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosny announced that these objects were found during a routine excavation carried out by an Egyptian team on the northern side of the temple. The team has been working to uncover the ruins of the funerary complex, which was once the largest temple in ancient Egypt.

Unfortunately, during the Late Period, the temple was destroyed and its blocks were reused in the construction of other temples.

Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), explained that the first newly discovered artifact is a 2.73m tall head of the god Hapi. Hapi was one of the four sons of Horus and is depicted with a baboon face. The second object is a fragment of a larger statue of King Amehotep III, which features two legs that measure 30cm tall. Excavation is now focused on unearthing the rest of these statuary fragments.

Due to the large number of statuary found in this area, Hawass believes that the northern side of the temple may have served as a burial spot for broken and damaged statues. Because the statuary were ritually significant they could not be destroyed, instead Hawass believes that the ancient Egyptians gathered the fallen statues and buried them in a cache beside the temple.

Abdel Ghaffar Wagdi, supervisor of the excavation team, said that excavators are working now on uncovering more statues from the agricultural land surrounding Amenhotep III’s mortuary temple. In the past two archaeological seasons five double statues of King Amenhotep III accompanied by the deities: Re-Horakhti, Khepri, Horus, and Hapi have been found