Posted on 06/04/2005 9:03:10 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Sat Jun 4, 4:45 PM ET
LUXOR, Egypt (AFP) - Buried for nearly 3,600 years, a rare statue of Egypt's King Neferhotep I has been brought to light in the ruins of Thebes by a team of French archaeologists.
Officials said on Saturday that the statue was unusual in that the king is depicted holding hands with a double of himself, although the second part of the carving remains under the sand and its form has been determined by the use of imaging equipment.
Archeologists unearthed the 1.8 metre (six foot) tall statue, as they were carrying out repairs around Karnak Temple in the southern city of Luxor, Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass told reporters.
Francois Larche, one of the team that found the limestone statue of the king, whose name means "beautiful and good", said it was lying about 1.6 metres below ground near an obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut, the only woman to have reigned as a pharoah in Egypt, ruling from 1504-1484 BC.
Karnak, now in the heart of Luxor, was built on the ruins of Thebes, the capital of ancient Egypt. The huge temple dedicated to the god Amon lies in the heart of a vast complex of religious buildings in the city, 700 kilometres (435 miles) south of Cairo.
The statue shows the king wearing a funeral mask and royal head cloth or nemes, said Larche.
The forehead bears an emblem of a cobra, which ancient Egyptians used as a symbol on the crown of the pharaohs. They believed that the cobra would spit fire at approaching enemies.
Larche said this was only the second time such a statue had been found in Egypt. A similar one was dug up during the excavations of the hidden treasures of Karnak from 1898 to 1904.
But it is not clear when or if the statue will be completely unearthed. It is blocked by the remnants of an ancient structure, possibly a gate.
"In order to pull it out, a structure on top of the statue has to be dismantled and then restored," said Larche, adding that permission from the Egyptian antiquities authorities was needed before the team could go ahead with plans to raise the statue.
"It's up to the Higher Council of Egyptian Antiquities to decide on the fate of the statue of Neferhotep I and whether it will be brought to light or left buried where it was found."
Neferhotep was the 22nd king of the 13th Dynasty. The son of a temple priest in Abydos, he ruled Egypt from 1696-1686 BC.
Experts believe his father's position helped him to ascend the throne, as there was no royal blood in his family.
Neferhotep was one of the few pharaohs whose name did not invoke the sun god, Re. It is written on a number of stones, including a document on his reign found in Aswan.
The article says "it was lying about 1.6 metres below ground near an obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut, the only woman to have reigned as a pharoah in Egypt, ruling from 1504-1484 BC." What about Cleopatra? Did she not qualify as Pharaoh?
Sure, but will they find his matching sock?
He was ahead of his time.
I just read in National Geographic that King Tut was/is Caucasian.
All American pigs should be named Mohammed.
Even then, there will still be fewer pig-Mohammeds than death-cult Moo Mohammeds.
And all American pork meals ("it's the other white meat!") should also be called mohammeds.
"Pass the Mohammed ribs, please. And some more sauce."
Twins?
I didn't know about the entry in Psalms. Thanks!
Psalm 106 does an Exodus recap, including (vs.10-12) "not one of them survived," which is also what Exodus 14 says about Pharoah's "entire army".
Psalm 136:14-15 ". . . and brought Israel through the midst of it, . . .but swept Pharoah and his army into the Red Sea. . ." (NIV)
Excellent! Thanks. Digging out my National Geographic.
It's the June issue. Tut's reconstructed head is on the front page.
Israelite, maybe?
Cleopatra was the last Ptolemy, a Greek.
They would be more accurate to say the only Egyptian woman to rule Egypt.
(But there is debate as to Cleopatra's ethnicity as well.
Some claim she was part Black.)
The french are actually good for something- digging trenches.
I thought the cobra was the sign of upper Egypt?
The later pharohs had two symbols on their headdress,
the cobra for one and something else for lower Egypt.
Whatever.
Thanks again. Many of the theology sites mention that the mummy of Neferhotep I hasn't been found. ...interesting.
The article says "it was lying about 1.6 metres below ground near an obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut, the only woman to have reigned as a pharoah in Egypt, ruling from 1504-1484 BC." What about Cleopatra? Did she not qualify as Pharaoh?Hatshepsut ruled in her own right, apparently as a usurper (she began her reign as regent, then said to hell with that).
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