More than 80 intact ushabti figures of 15 cm dated at least 3000 years ago accompanied Djehuty, the ancient Egyptian priest, on his trip to the afterlife. They were recently found by a research team led by Spanish Egyptologist Dr. José Manuel Galán.

The discovery was announced on 12th July in Madrid at a press conference held by the director of Djehuty Project to celebrate its 10th season. The project is centered around the tomb of Djehuty, a former treasurer of female pharaoh Hatshepsut, who ruled ancient Egypt around 1470 BC

In Dra Abu el-Naga, Spanish archaeologists have also made two more discoveries (a pet cemetery with hundreds of mummies animals, ibis, hawks, and a new burial chamber).

The Djehuty Project operates on an annual budget of 120,000 euros, of which 50,000 are dedicated to the annual recruitment of two researchers and the rest to the six weeks of excavation.

Sources: Luxor Times and La Sombrilla

The Project site http://www.excavacionegipto.com/

Egyptian and French archaeologists have unearthed a 2,700-year-old stone gate belonging to Nubian King Shabaka of the 25th dynasty (712-698 BC) while digging near Luxor’s Karnak temple.

Shabaka established the capital at Thebes and was believed to have invested great effort in restoring religious architecture.

The large stone door features colorful engravings that depict King Shabaka offering the goddess of truth, Maat, to the god Amun Ra, the chief deity.

The mission also unearthed a stone wall surrounding the temple of Ptah, the chief god of the city of Memphis. His temple had been built on the site of an earlier Middle Kingdom temple, and restored by Shabaka.

Christophe Tiers, director of the Karnak French mission, said that the mission has also unearthed a number of engraved blocks from the Ptah temple. The blocks date to the reign of King Tuthmosis III (1479-1425 BC) which means that the construction of the temple started under Egyptian rule and not during the Ptolemaic dynasty as was previously thought.

The Franco-Egyptian Centre has been working to open the temple to visitors next winter and plans to put Shabaka’s gate on display.

Google News and Ahram Online

Visit Luxor Times for pictures

Image via Wikipedia

After five years of hard work, the avenue of Sphinxes has been reincarnated into its original form, inviting Luxor’s visitors to walk along the historical avenue as the ancient Egyptians did in the days of the Pharaohs.

To celebrate the restoration, said Mansour Boreik, director of Luxor monuments, the ministry of state for antiquities (MSA) is organizing a special inauguration ceremony on October at the avenue. Sound and Light Company is installing a special lamp to light the avenue and showcase the distinguished artistic beauty of its sphinxes, as well as the monuments that were unearthed during the route’s development project, including Greco-Roman workshops and wine factories.

Ahram Online

Photo: MSA

A colossal statue of Amenhotep III (c. 1390-1352 BC), seated and wearing the Nemes headdress, a pleated shendjyt kilt and a royal beard was found in the passageway leading to the third pylon (gate) of the funerary temple at Kom el-Hettan on the west bank of Luxor, 200 meters behind the Colossi of Memnon, which guarded the first pylon.

Dr. Hourig Sourouzian, the head of the mission, said the colossus is unique because it is exceptionally well carved in alabaster, a stone hewn in the quarries of Hatnub in Middle Egypt. This material, she explained, is rarely used for colossal statuary, and the pair of statues from Kom el-Hettan are the only preserved examples of their size, an estimated c. 18 m in height.

“The statue is the northern one of a pair of colossi that were once placed at the gate of the third pylon,” reported Zahi Hawass. The back of one of the two statues’ thrones had already been discovered in a previous excavation and its fragmentary text published. The other parts will be gradually uncovered for conservation and the statue restored in its original location in the near future.

drhawass.com

Archaeologists unearthed one of the largest statues found to date of Amenhotep III at his mortuary temple in Luxor.

The 13 meter (42 foot) tall statue was one of a pair that flanked the northern entrance to the grand funerary temple on the west bank of the Nile that is currently the focus of a major excavation. Archaeologists expect to find its twin in the next digging season.

The statue consists of seven large quartzite blocks and still lacks the head. It was actually first discovered in the 1928 and then rehidden, according to the press release from Egypt’s antiquities authority.

Google News

Accor Egypt is sponsoring this year’s annual French travel agents conference held in Luxor from January 22-26, with 450 participating French travel agents.

The Minister of Tourism, Mr, Zoheir Garranah is attending the opening ceremony, which is held at Sofitel Karnak Luxor.

Through this four-day conference, organized by a French Travel Agencies Organization (SNAV) and the Egyptian Tourism Authority, Accor Egypt aims to promote Egypt as a distinguished tourist destination, especially Luxor with its recent renovations, which have made it a modern and vibrant city while maintaining its historical charm.

With one third of the world’s known monuments, Egypt is a significant destination for tourists from all over the world. Egypt attracts a wide range of elite to middle class tourists with a variety of travel purposes including recreational, business and medical.  The increase in international hotel management chains has resulted in greater competition in the industry, which has led to enhanced services and benefits to tourists, making Egypt a superior destination worldwide.

With 18 hotels in 9 cities, Accor Egypt covers midscale to luxury brands operating in Cairo, Alexandria, Ismailia, Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh, Dahab, Taba, Luxor and Aswan.

Accor, the world’s leading hotel operator and market leader in Europe, is present in 90 countries with 4,100 hotels and close to 500,000 rooms.

Zawya

“Tutankhamun’s tomb will not be closed in the near future. It is a long-term plan that has not been decided upon yet,” Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, told Discovery News.

Many reports in the past two weeks announced the closure of this tourist magnet by the end of this year.

The long-term plan involves a $10 million project called the “Valley of the Replicas.”

Visitors will be directed to exact reproductions of the original tombs. The first three replicas will be the tombs of Tutankhamun, and the already closed burial sites of Seti I and Queen Nefertari in the Valley of the Queens.

The three original tombs will remain open to tourists willing to pay a very hefty fee, perhaps as high as $8,500 per visit.

msnbc.com

Archaeologists have unearthed six missing pieces of the statue of Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye which is on display in the main hall of Cairo’s Egyptian Museum.

The fragments were discovered on the west bank of the Nile in the southern city of Luxor. The missing pieces were from the right side of Amenhotep III’s chest, crown and leg, and a section of the queen’s leg, left arm and foot.

They will be fitted to the sculpture, discovered in 1889 by French archaeologist Auguste Mariette. Back then, an Italian team filled in the missing pieces with modern stonework.

Source: Washington Post

The Egyptian government has launched a campaign to curb the growing trend among hotels and bazaars in the country to illegally showcase to tourists the endangered Nile crocodile, once worshipped by ancient Egyptians.

Ministry of Environment’s teams in coordination with police have recorded violations in Luxor. It has been found that some traders even display small crocodiles in glass bottles. Recently a three-meter-long crocodile was spotted in a Luxor hotel.

In Geziret el Moz, some families put five crocodiles – ranging from one to two meters long – on display in cages. The crocodiles were confiscated and their owners referred for public prosecution.

The reptiles were returned to their natural habitat in Lake Nasser according to the regulations of the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).

msn News

Two red granite statuary fragments of King Amenhotep III were unearthed this week at Amenhotep III’s (1410 – 1372 BC) mortuary temple on the west bank of Luxor.

The first newly discovered artifact is a 2.73m tall head of the god Hapi. Hapi was one of the four sons of Horus and is depicted with a baboon face. The second object is a fragment of a larger statue of King Amehotep III, which features two legs that measure 30cm tall. Excavation is now focused on unearthing the rest of these statuary fragments.

Due to the large number of statuary found in this area, Dr. Zahi Hawass believes that the northern side of the temple may have served as a burial spot for broken and damaged statues. Because the statuary were ritually significant they could not be destroyed, instead Hawass believes that the ancient Egyptians gathered the fallen statues and buried them in a cache beside the temple.

drhawass.com