A pair of giant limestone sphinxes have been unearthed by archaeologists who excavated the temple of Amenhotep III, who ruled ancient Egypt around 3,300 years ago and was Tutankhamun’s grandfather.
The statues represent the pharaoh wearing a mongoose-shaped headdress, a royal beard and a large necklace.
After further analysis, the team found the script “the beloved of Amun-Re” on one of the chests of the sphinx.
The Egyptian-German archaeological team, led by Horig Sorosian, discovered the colossal statues submerged in water from the burial building, known as the “Temple of Millions of Years”, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
The temple is located in Luxor, Egypt which is famous for its oldest and oldest Egyptian sites, as well as the Valley of the Kings.
A pair of giant limestone sphinxes have been unearthed by archaeologists who excavated the temple of Amenhotep III, who ruled ancient Egypt around 3,300 years ago and was Tutankhamun’s grandfather. The statues represent the pharaoh wearing a mongoose-shaped headdress, a royal beard and a large necklace
In addition to the 26-foot-long sphinxes, the team also discovered three nearly intact statues of the goddess Sekhmet, the lion-like defender of the sun god Ra, and the remains of a large pillared hall.
And the walls of the hall are decorated with ceremonial and ritual scenes.
Horosian underlined the importance of this discovery, because the two sphinxes confirm the presence of the beginning of the road of the processions where the celebrations of the Festival of the Beautiful Valley were held each year.
This annual event was a time when people could visit their deceased loved ones and bring them gifts – and it was only celebrated in the ancient city of Thebes.
After further analysis, the team found the script “the beloved of Amun-Re” on one of the chests of the sphinx. Pictured is a second sphinx that appears to have been weathered for thousands of years
In addition to the 26-foot-long sphinxes, the team also discovered three nearly intact statues of the goddess Sekhmet, the lion-like defender of the sun god Ra, and the remains of a large pillared hall.
King Amenhotep III was the grandfather of the famous boy-pharaoh Tutankhamun and ruled in the 14th century BC at the height of Egypt’s New Kingdom and presided over a vast empire stretching from Nubia in the south to Syria in the north .
The ruler of the 18th dynasty became king around the age of 12, with his mother as regent and is said to have ruled Egypt between 1386 and 1349 BC.
Amenhotep III chose the daughter of a provincial official as his royal wife, and throughout his reign Queen Tiy figured alongside the king.
Amenhotep III died around 1354 BC and was succeeded by his son Amenhotep IV, widely known as Akhenaten, who was the father of King Tut.
Tut began his reign when he was eight or nine years old and reigned for about nine years.
However, the young king was struggling with health issues due to his parents being siblings – and experts believe these issues led to his death.
The archaeologists have underlined the importance of this discovery, as the two sphinxes confirm the presence of the beginning of the processional way where the celebrations of the Festival of the Belle Valley took place each year. Pictured is another statue of the goddess Sekhmet.
King Amenhotep III (left) was the grandfather of the famous boy-pharaoh Tutankhamun (right) and ruled in the 14th century BC at the height of Egypt’s New Kingdom and presided over a vast empire spanning from the Nubia in the south to Syria in the north.
The Egyptian-German archaeological team, led by Horig Sorosian, discovered the colossal statues submerged in water from the burial building, known as the “Temple of Millions of Years”.
Amenhotep III may have left Earth thousands of years ago, but archaeologists are still uncovering remnants of his past, the most lavish being the ‘lost golden city’.
In April 2021, archaeologists announced the discovery of a 3,500-year-old city in Luxor, which they claim is the largest ancient city ever discovered in Egypt.
It was built by Amenhotep III and later used by King Tutankhamun.
Luxor, a city of around 500,000 on the banks of the Nile in southern Egypt, is an open-air museum of intricate temples and pharaonic tombs.
Excavations at the site have unearthed bakeries, workshops, and animal and human burials, as well as jewelry, pots, and mud bricks bearing the seals of Amenhotep III.
The team first set out to uncover the mortuary temple of Tutankhamun, where the young king was mummified and given status rites, but they stumbled across something much bigger.
Betsy Brian, professor of Egyptology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in the United States, said: “The discovery of this lost city is the second most important archaeological discovery since the tomb of Tutankhamun”.
Amenhotep III may have left Earth thousands of years ago, but archaeologists are still uncovering remnants of his past, the most lavish being the ‘lost golden city’. In April 2021, archaeologists announced the discovery of a 3,500-year-old city in Luxor, which they claim is the largest ancient city ever discovered in Egypt.
Luxor is known for its oldest and oldest Egyptian sites, as well as the Valley of the Kings. This area was once called the “Great Necropolis of Millions of Pharaoh’s Years”, as a number of mummies and massive structures have been discovered in Luxor.
“Discovering the lost city will not only give us a rare glimpse into the lives of ancient Egyptians when the Empire was at its richest, but will help shed light on one of the greatest mysteries of the story: why Akhenaten and Nefertiti decide to move to Amarna.
The city is located between the temple of Ramses III in Medinet Habou and the temple of Amenhotep III in Memnon.
Excavations began in September 2020 and within weeks archaeologists discovered mud brick formations.
After further excavations, archaeologists unearthed the well-preserved large city site with nearly complete walls and rooms filled with tools once used by the city’s inhabitants.
WHO WAS KING TUTANKHAMUN AND HOW WAS HIS TOMB DISCOVERED?
The face of Tutankhamun was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, and reigned between 1332 BC and 1323 BC. On the right, his famous gold funerary mask
Tutankhamun was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty and reigned between 1332 BC and 1323 BC.
He was the son of Akhenaten and ascended the throne at the age of nine or ten.
When he became king, he married his half-sister, Ankhesenpaaten.
He died around the age of 18 and his cause of death is unknown.
In 1907, Lord Carnarvon George Herbert commissioned English archaeologist and Egyptologist Howard Carter to oversee excavations in the Valley of the Kings.
On November 4, 1922, Carter’s party discovered steps leading to Tutankhamun’s tomb.
He spent several months cataloging the antechamber before opening the burial chamber and discovering the sarcophagus in February 1923.
When the tomb was discovered in 1922 by archaeologist Howard Carter, under the patronage of Lord Carnarvon, the media frenzy that followed was unprecedented.
Carter and his team took 10 years to clear the tomb of its treasure because of the multitude of items found inside.
For many, Tut epitomizes the glory of ancient Egypt as his tomb was filled with the glittering wealth of the wealthy 18th Dynasty from 1569 to 1315 BC.
Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass (3rd L) oversees the removal of the lid from King Tutankhamun’s sarcophagus in his underground tomb in the famous Valley of the Kings in 2007.
