An Egyptian-British archaeological mission from Cambridge University, headed by Barry Kemp, has discovered a gypsum head from a statue of King Akhenaten (around 1300 BC) during excavation work in Tel El-Amarna in Egypt’s Minya governorate.
Mustafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said that the head, which is 9cm tall, 13.5cm long and 8cm wide, was unearthed during excavation work in the first hall of the Great Atun Temple in Tel El-Amarna.
Mr Waziri said the discovery was important because it shed light on the city that was Egypt’s capital during the reign of King Akhenaten, famous as the father of monotheism in Egypt, whose reign was among the most controversial in ancient Egyptian history.
Tel El-Amarna, which lies around 12km south of the city of Minya which in turn lies some 250km south of Cairo, holds the ruins of the city constructed by King Akhenaten and his wife Queen Nefertiti to be the home of the cult of the sun god Atun. Its ruins include magnificent temples, palaces and tombs.
Watani International
1 October 2017