Huge statue of Horus discovered

The Egyptian-German archaeological mission headed by Horig Sorouzian discovered a huge statue of the God Horus.

The statue was found in the remains of the Columns Hall at the Millions of Years Temple of King Amenhotep III in Kom al-Hattan area on the western mainland of Luxor.

Director General of West Luxor’s Antiquities Sector Fathi Yassin explained that the discovered statue is made of black granite and is 1.85 meters long. It depicts the God Horus in the shape of a falcon standing in the kilt, with broken legs and arms.

Sorouzian said that this discovery comes within the framework of the project of the restoration of the Memnon statue and the Temple of King Amenhotep III, which started in 1998 under the supervision of the Ministry of Antiquities and the German Institute of Antiquities.

She indicated that the discovered statue is in good condition and that it possesses important artistic, scientific and archaeological value because it will contribute to enhancing the whole picture of the temple after its collapse due to a devastating earthquake in the 28th century BC.

Stone was used to build temples and other royal statues in the Ramesside period. It is now undergoing restoration and the mission will continue to excavate to find the legs of the statue. The mission also discovered half statues of some deities.

It is worth noting that the mission previously unearthed several huge statues of deities and of king Amenhotep III and his wife Queen Ti, in addition to a large number of statues depicting Sekhmet. It is known that King Amenhotep III had built a large number of statues of the Goddess Sekhmet in his funerary temple, which he called the “Temple of Millions of Years.”

Sekhmet was famous for being a strong goddess as she was believed to sustain healing abilities, thus capable of protecting the temple and Amenhotep III from dangers and diseases.