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TWO PHARAOH STATUES UNVEILED IN EGYPT; GERMAN-ARMENIA ARCHAEOLOGIST LEADING THE PROJECT OF THEIR CONSERVATION
15:16 25.03.2014
Archaeologists have revealed two massive statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep
III in the famous Egyptian city of Luxor, at their original sites in
the funerary temple of the king, on the west bank of the Nile.
The two colossal statues will add to an existing pair of monoliths in
the temple, which is already world famous for the 3,400-year-old Memmon
colossi - twin statues of Amenhotep III who ruled during the political
and cultural zenith of ancient Egyptian civilization, AFP reports.
The new statues have been extensively restored, as they have
experienced severe damage over the centuries, according to Hourig
Sourouzian, the German-Armenia archaeologist who is leading the
project to conserve the entire Amenhotep III temple.
"The world until now knew two Memmon colossi, but from today it will
know four colossi of Amenhotep III," Sourouzian said.
"The statues had lain in pieces for centuries in the fields, damaged by
destructive forces of nature like earthquakes, and later by irrigation
water, salt encroachment and vandalism," she added.
One of the new statues is of the pharaoh seated; it weighs 250 tons
and is 11.5 meters tall and 3.6 meters wide. It is now missing its
double crown, which would have made it 13.5 meters high and 450 tons
in weight.
Sourouzian said that her team is trying to conserve all these monuments
and the temple itself, which had been left to the mercy of the elements
and suffered at the hands of man.
"Every ruin, every monument has its right to be treated decently. The
idea is to stop the dismantling of monuments and keep them at their
sites," she said.
http://www.armradio.am/en/2014/03/25/two-pharaoh-statues-unveiled-in-egypt-german-armenia-archaeologist-leading-the-project-of-their-conservation/
15:16 25.03.2014
Archaeologists have revealed two massive statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep
III in the famous Egyptian city of Luxor, at their original sites in
the funerary temple of the king, on the west bank of the Nile.
The two colossal statues will add to an existing pair of monoliths in
the temple, which is already world famous for the 3,400-year-old Memmon
colossi - twin statues of Amenhotep III who ruled during the political
and cultural zenith of ancient Egyptian civilization, AFP reports.
The new statues have been extensively restored, as they have
experienced severe damage over the centuries, according to Hourig
Sourouzian, the German-Armenia archaeologist who is leading the
project to conserve the entire Amenhotep III temple.
"The world until now knew two Memmon colossi, but from today it will
know four colossi of Amenhotep III," Sourouzian said.
"The statues had lain in pieces for centuries in the fields, damaged by
destructive forces of nature like earthquakes, and later by irrigation
water, salt encroachment and vandalism," she added.
One of the new statues is of the pharaoh seated; it weighs 250 tons
and is 11.5 meters tall and 3.6 meters wide. It is now missing its
double crown, which would have made it 13.5 meters high and 450 tons
in weight.
Sourouzian said that her team is trying to conserve all these monuments
and the temple itself, which had been left to the mercy of the elements
and suffered at the hands of man.
"Every ruin, every monument has its right to be treated decently. The
idea is to stop the dismantling of monuments and keep them at their
sites," she said.
http://www.armradio.am/en/2014/03/25/two-pharaoh-statues-unveiled-in-egypt-german-armenia-archaeologist-leading-the-project-of-their-conservation/