WATANI International
14 November 2010
Prince’s dream
During routine excavation work, an Egyptian archaeological mission has discovered a large mud brick wall dating to the reign of King Thuthmose IV (1400-1390 BC). The wall was uncovered in the area located in front of King Khafre’s valley temple on the Giza plateau. King Khafre reigned from 2559BC to 2535BC.
Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said the newly discovered wall consists of two parts: the first section is 75cm tall and stretches for 86m from north to south along the eastern side of Khafre’s valley temple and the Sphinx; the second part is 90cm tall and is located in the area north of Khafre’s valley temple. This section is 46m long and runs from east to west along the perimeter of the valley temple area. The two parts of the wall converge at the south-east corner of the excavation area.
Hawass explained that according to initial studies carried out at the site, the newly discovered wall is a part of a larger wall found to the north of the Sphinx. This wall was constructed by King Thuthmose IV as an enclosure to protect the Sphinx from winds. According to ancient Egyptian texts the construction of this wall was the result of a dream which Thuthmose had after a long hunting trip in Wadi al-Ghizlan (Deer Valley), an area next to the Sphinx. In the king’s dream, the Sphinx asked the king to move the sand away from his body because it choked him. For this favour, the Sphinx promised to make Thutmose IV King of Egypt. To accomplish this task, Thuthmose IV removed the sand that had partially buried the Sphinx and built an enclosure wall to preserve it.
King Tut goes to Australia
The treasures of King Tutankhamun will be on display in Australia for the first time next April when the Melbourne Museum hosts the exhibition “Tutankhamun and The Golden Age of the Pharaohs”, Culture Minister Farouk Hosni has said. Featuring 140 artifacts from the tombs of King Tut and his family, including a statue of King Akhenaten who was proved by recent DNA testing to be King Tut’s father, the exhibition will leave New York in January 2011 heading for Australia. The pharaoh’s current world tour, now in its fifth year, has spanned Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and New York. More than one million Australians are expected to visit the exhibition. Revenues will be channeled into the Grand Egyptian Museum, currently under construction in Giza.