26-Foot Statues Of Ancient Egyptian King As Sphinxes Uncovered On Temple Grounds

During the recent excavation of the Temple of Millions of Years in Luxor, once the ancient capital of Thebes, an Egyptian-German archeological mission uncovered a pair of sphinx-like statues. 

Made of limestone, the statues depict King Amenhotep III, an 18th-dynasty ruler and the grandfather of King Tutankhamun, in the form of sphinxes. Measuring around 26 feet long, the statues are known as “colossi”—bigger than life-sized. 

Dr. Mustafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, shares in a press release that the statues depict the King wearing a mongoose headdress, a royal beard, and a wide necklace around the neck. 

After restoration, it was also revealed that one of the colossi has the inscription “the beloved of Amun-Re” across its chest, in reference to Amenhotep III.

This discovery is part of an archaeological mission that was launched in 1998, the Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project. This will be its 24th year in running.

Besides the sphinx colossi, the team also uncovered three statues of the likeness of the goddess Sekhmet and some remains of walls and columns bearing ceremonial and ritual decoration. 

These will be grouped with other similar architectural discoveries, with plans to restore them to their original places in the temple all those centuries ago. Moving forward after the rebuilding, there will also be guidelines in place to preserve the ancient temple as much as possible.  

[via the New York Post and Live Science, image via the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities]