Two amazing statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III have been recently restored and unveiled on March23, 2014, in Luxor, Egypt, along with a carved alabaster head from another Amenhotep III statue.
The severely damaged statues, which were carved from red quartzite, are now resting at their original sites a the pharaoh’s funerary temple. The temple is already known for its existing 3,400-year-old Memnon colossi, the twin statues of Amenhotep III whose reign signified the political and cultural peak of ancient Egyptian civilization.
Description of the two ‘new’ statues
Of the two restored statues, the first shows Amenhotep III in a seated position, wearing a royal pleated kilt held in place by a decorated belt. It is 11.5 metres (38 feet) tall, with a base 1.5 metres high and 3.6 metres wide. The king is depicted wearing a royal pleated kilt held at the waist by a large belt decorated with zigzag lines. Beside his right leg stands nearly a complete figure of Amenhotep III’s wife Tiye, wearing a large wig and a long tight-fitting dress. The second, now at the north gate of the temple, shows the king in a standing position.
This last picture illustrates a unique and rare alabaster statues in the world.
History
Pharaoh Amenhotep III inherited an empire that spanned from the Euphrates to Sudan. He was able to maintain Egypt’s position mainly through diplomacy. The 18th dynasty ruler became king at the age of around 12, with his mother as regent. Amenhotep III died in around 1354 BC and was succeeded by his son Amenhotep IV, widely known as Akhenaten.
Source and photos: AFP
[…] stranger is the fact that the Greeks associated the site with the demi-god Memnon, even though both statues were built to resemble Amenhotep […]