Two statues of Amenhotep III found in Egypt
Last Updated: Thursday, March 5, 2009 | 3:15 PM ET
CBC News
Two massive statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, who ruled Egypt 3,400 years ago, have been discovered in the southern Egyptian city of Luxor.
Zahi Hawaas, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, announced in a statement Thursday that the statues were found while an excavation team was clearing out the pharaoh's mortuary, near modern Luxor .
Hawaas said one statue was carved from black granite and shows the pharaoh in a seated position.
The other, carved from quartzite, depicts the pharaoh as a sphinx, the mythological creature with a human head and the body of a lion.
Amenhotep III, who ruled for about 40 years during the 14th century BC, left more images of himself than any other pharaoh.
A popular tourist destination today for its famous Valley of the Kings, Luxor is the site of the ancient Egyptian capital of Thebes.
Archaeologist Hourig Sourouzian has been directing the excavation of Amenhotep III's mortuary temple, known today as Kom al-Hitan, for several years.
With files from the Associated PressShare Tools
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