Science News
Archaeologists puzzle over statue find in Egypt
By DPA
Jan 30, 2006, 15:20 GMT

Cairo - A German archaeological mission stumbled on a mystery with the discovery of three partial Pharaonic statues in Luxor, Egyptian officials announced Monday, because one appears to date to a later period than most previous finds at the site.

Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) announced Monday the discovery of two statues of Sakhmet, the goddess of war, as well as the head of a member of the royal family, at the temple of Amunhotep III on the west bank of the Nile River in Luxor, 700 kilometres south of Cairo.

The finds were made by a dig headed by Hourig Sourzian of the Friends of the Memnon Colossi association that is affiliated with the Egypt office of the German Archaeological Institute.

The Sakhmet statues, which date to the New Kingdom's 18th dynasty (circa 1533-1292 B.C.), hail from the same period as most of the finds in the area. The head believed to date to the 25th dynasty (circa 760-656 B.C.) that is characterized by its Nubian features seems however out of place.

In a statement by the SCA, Sourzian suggested that the head might have ended up at the location having been left there by a 19th century British dig or an illegal excavation by antiquities merchants.

The lower legs of one of the goddess statues were broken off, while only the upper body of the other was discovered. The head is largely in good condition, although, part of the right side has been scraped off, said SCA head Zahi Hawass.

One of the goddess statues is made of granite, the other diorite, while the head is granite. The dimensions of the finds were not immediately available.

Head of excavations in western Luxor, Ali al-Asfhar, said that he believed the royal head to be the most important discovery among the three items because of the questions raised by the presence of the head at such a location. Statues of Sakhmet are relatively common having been found at many sites, he added

Most excavations in Egypt take place during the winter when the weather is more conducive to the long hours required for such work.