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Statue of Egyptian pharaoh found after nearly 3,600 years
AFP ^ | 06/04/05

Posted on 06/04/2005 9:03:10 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster

Statue of Egyptian pharaoh found after nearly 3,600 years

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.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: archaeology; egypt; ggg; godsgravesglyphs; hatshepsut; history; neferhotep; pharaoh; statue
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1 posted on 06/04/2005 9:03:10 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
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To: TigerLikesRooster; SunkenCiv; blam

Ping!


2 posted on 06/04/2005 9:03:42 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
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Comment #3 Removed by Moderator

To: TigerLikesRooster
Statue of Egyptian pharaoh found after nearly 3,600 years

Under the bed? Between the sofa cushions? It's always the last place you look.

4 posted on 06/04/2005 9:07:38 PM PDT by SIDENET ("You knew the job was dangerous when you took it, Fred.")
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To: TigerLikesRooster
In honor of the discovery of this Pharaoh's statue I will post this dancing fellow:


5 posted on 06/04/2005 9:10:37 PM PDT by Lockbar (March toward the sound of the guns.)
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To: TigerLikesRooster
the king is depicted holding hands with a double of himself

The mainstream media will claim it was his domestic partner.

6 posted on 06/04/2005 9:18:08 PM PDT by Reeses
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To: Lockbar

sweet : )


7 posted on 06/04/2005 9:21:26 PM PDT by Flavius ("... we should reconnoitre assiduosly... " Vegetius)
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To: TigerLikesRooster
"Neferhotep was one of the few pharaohs whose name did not invoke the sun god, Re."

My #2 dog is named Ra after the sun god.

8 posted on 06/04/2005 9:23:13 PM PDT by blam
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To: TigerLikesRooster
You can't look upon Pharoh statues without thinking of Ozymandias.

Ozymandias

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed,
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

9 posted on 06/04/2005 9:26:10 PM PDT by Plutarch
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To: Plutarch

I can't read Ozymandias anymore without thinking of the WTC on 9/11.


10 posted on 06/04/2005 9:27:28 PM PDT by DryFly
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To: Plutarch

11 posted on 06/04/2005 9:37:33 PM PDT by Lijahsbubbe
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To: TigerLikesRooster
"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. Who immediately surrendered.
12 posted on 06/04/2005 9:39:52 PM PDT by Eagles6 (Dig deeper, more ammo.)
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To: blam
My #2 dog is named Ra after the sun god.

My #12 dog is named mohammed after the...

.

... never mind ...

13 posted on 06/04/2005 10:13:10 PM PDT by Publius6961 (Before)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Some archeologists and historians believe that he might have been the Pharoah of the Exodus.


14 posted on 06/05/2005 2:21:41 AM PDT by familyop ("Let us try" sounds better, don't you think? "Essayons" is so...Latin.)
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To: SIDENET
When they excavate these ruins they should also check the Pharaoh's couch for all the loose Egyptian change that falls down the back.

There must be a treasure trove of gold coins hiding behind there.
15 posted on 06/05/2005 2:31:33 AM PDT by Red Sea Swimmer (Tisha5765Bav)
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To: Publius6961
My #12 dog is named mohammed

You have blasphemed Islam and must die...













...MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-MAD!!!!!!
16 posted on 06/05/2005 2:53:01 AM PDT by UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide (Give Them Liberty Or Give Them Death! - Islam Delenda Est! - Rumble thee forth...)
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To: familyop

Then he drowned.


17 posted on 06/05/2005 3:01:44 AM PDT by Jedidah
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To: Jedidah

Well, biblically (from my understanding), the sea covered the Egyptian army--the chariot ranks and cavalry but not necessarily the Pharoah. I'm not pretending to know who was Pharoah around the time of the Exodus, but reading others' guesses is fun. From those who study what little is known of ancient Egypt, there are several different opinions on when Neferhotep I lived. I haven't found names of any archeologists, yet, who compare physical finds with biblical text (only mentions of "archeologists," so far). There are some "biblical historians" named, though. It appears that most (if not all) archeologists disagree with both biblical and secular historians to a great extent on dates.


18 posted on 06/05/2005 3:43:48 AM PDT by familyop ("Let us try" sounds better, don't you think? "Essayons" is so...Latin.)
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To: TigerLikesRooster
"In order to pull it out, a structure on top of the statue has to be dismantled and then restored,"

This doesn't sound right.

If the statue is lying beneath, but not part of, an existing structure any good engineer would recommend tunneling to get at it.

19 posted on 06/05/2005 5:46:26 AM PDT by Noachian (To Control the Judiciary The People Must First Control The Senate)
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To: familyop

Agreed, nobody knows who the pharoah of the Exodus was. I, like you, have studied the subject, and the arguments over dates and dynasties is intriguing.

So is the debate over ethncity of the pharoahs, which makes looking at their statues interesting. Young Neferhotep looks very African to me, but who knows? We do know that one of the pharoahs had a Israeli ex-con as his right-hand man.

The biblical account in Exodus mentions demise of the Egyptian army, but Psalms mentions Pharoah himself perishing in the sea. Thus my comment in the earlier post. It's an obscure passage, but it's definitely there. If you'd like, I'll find and post it later.


20 posted on 06/05/2005 6:57:01 AM PDT by Jedidah
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