Pharaoh emerges, and he's beside himself
June 7, 2005
A rare limestone statue of Egypt's King Neferhotep I has come to light after being buried for nearly 3600 years in the ruins of Thebes.
Officials said that the statue was unusual in that the king was depicted holding hands with a double of himself.
The second part of the carving was still under the sand, and its shape had been worked out by imaging equipment.
Egypt's antiquities chief, Zahi Hawass, told reporters that French archaeologists had unearthed the 1.8-metre statue while working around Karnak Temple, in the southern city of Luxor.
Francois Larche was a member of the team that found the limestone statue of the king, whose name means "beautiful and good". He said it was lying about 1.6 metres below ground near an obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut, the only woman to have reigned as a pharaoh, ruling from 1504BC to 1484BC.
Karnak, now in the heart of Luxor, was built on the ruins of Thebes, the capital of ancient Egypt. The huge temple dedicated to the god Amon lies in the heart of a vast complex of religious buildings in the city, 700 kilometres south of Cairo
The statue showed the king wearing a funeral mask and royal head cloth, or nemes, said Mr Larche.
The forehead bore an emblem of a cobra, which ancient Egyptians used as a symbol on the crown of the pharaohs. They believed that the cobra would spit fire at approaching enemies.
Mr Larche said this was only the second time such a statue had been found in Egypt. A similar one was dug up during the excavations of the hidden treasures of Karnak from 1898 to 1904.
But it is not clear when or if the statue will be completely unearthed. It is blocked by the remnants of an ancient structure, possibly a gate.
Mr Larche said permission was needed from the Egyptian antiquities authorities before the team could raise the statue.
Neferhotep was the 22nd king of the 13th Dynasty. The son of a temple priest in Abydos, he ruled Egypt from 1696BC to 1686BC.
- AFP
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Pharaoh-emerges-and-hes-beside-himself/2005/06/06/1117910239179.html
June 7, 2005
A rare limestone statue of Egypt's King Neferhotep I has come to light after being buried for nearly 3600 years in the ruins of Thebes.
Officials said that the statue was unusual in that the king was depicted holding hands with a double of himself.
The second part of the carving was still under the sand, and its shape had been worked out by imaging equipment.
Egypt's antiquities chief, Zahi Hawass, told reporters that French archaeologists had unearthed the 1.8-metre statue while working around Karnak Temple, in the southern city of Luxor.
Francois Larche was a member of the team that found the limestone statue of the king, whose name means "beautiful and good". He said it was lying about 1.6 metres below ground near an obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut, the only woman to have reigned as a pharaoh, ruling from 1504BC to 1484BC.
Karnak, now in the heart of Luxor, was built on the ruins of Thebes, the capital of ancient Egypt. The huge temple dedicated to the god Amon lies in the heart of a vast complex of religious buildings in the city, 700 kilometres south of Cairo
The statue showed the king wearing a funeral mask and royal head cloth, or nemes, said Mr Larche.
The forehead bore an emblem of a cobra, which ancient Egyptians used as a symbol on the crown of the pharaohs. They believed that the cobra would spit fire at approaching enemies.
Mr Larche said this was only the second time such a statue had been found in Egypt. A similar one was dug up during the excavations of the hidden treasures of Karnak from 1898 to 1904.
But it is not clear when or if the statue will be completely unearthed. It is blocked by the remnants of an ancient structure, possibly a gate.
Mr Larche said permission was needed from the Egyptian antiquities authorities before the team could raise the statue.
Neferhotep was the 22nd king of the 13th Dynasty. The son of a temple priest in Abydos, he ruled Egypt from 1696BC to 1686BC.
- AFP
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Pharaoh-emerges-and-hes-beside-himself/2005/06/06/1117910239179.html
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 2:50 PM
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