MessageToEagle.com – German archaeologists found two statues of Sekhmet, the Ancient Egyptian goddess of war and destruction, during work at a dig in the ruined city of Luxor, in southern Egypt, the Egyptian Antiquities Ministry reported Sunday.
The two black granite statues were discovered by the German team making excavations at the funerary temple of Pharaoh Amenhotep III (1410-1372 B.C), which is located on the west bank of the Nile at Luxor, 700 km (435 mi.) south of Cairo.
The first statue, measuring 174 cm (68.5 in.) high and the lower portion of which is still buried at the site, represents the goddess Sekhmet seated on a throne.
Meanwhile, the second statue in the head of a lioness, which is how Sekhmet was often depicted by the ancient Egyptians, measures 45 cm (17.7 in.) high.
The announcement of the find said that the two pieces were discovered in the southwestern portion of the Hall of the Large Columns in the temple of Amenhotep III, which is a huge patio covered by ruins.
According to the communique, the area was hit by a strong earthquake about 1200 B.C., some 150 years after the temple was built, and builders used stones from the previous construction to erect several new temples there.
Egyptologist Horig Sourouzian who led the European-Egyptian archaeological mission told Ahram Online that the temple’s pillars hall is now a void area filled with dust and sand. He said that the mission is currently working there to see if there is anything to discover amidst the ruins.
‘This is not the first time statues of the lioness goddess have been unearthed at Kom Al-Hittan,” said Sourouzian, adding that the mission previously un-earthed 64 statues of Sekhment in different shapes and sizes.’
‘Some Egyptologists believe that king Amenhotep constructed a large number of statue goddess Sekhmets in an attempt to cure him of a specific disease that he suffered during his reign,’ Sourouzian said.
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