WATANI International
10 October 2010
Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed part of a 3,000-year-old statue of the pharaoh Amenhotep III, believed to be the grandfather of the young King Tutankhamun, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Anitiquities Zahi Hawass last week announced. “The statue was found near the northern entrance of Amenhotep III’s temple and depicts the king sitting down on a throne with Amun,” the chief deity, he said. The red-granite top half of the statue, which measures 130 cm in height and 95 cm, was discovered at the site of the Amenhotep III’s funerary temple in Luxor. Hawass said it is “fantastic… because of the details of the facial features”. Archaeologists believe the full statue is around three metres tall. Amenhotep III ruled Egypt between 1390 and 1352 BC. In recent years, a large quantity of red-granite statue pieces have been uncovered at Amenhotep III’s funerary temple at Kom al-Hitan on Luxor’s west bank.