Sphinx statues found in Egypt
Aug. 18th, 2008 01:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed four small statues of the Sphinx, the mythological figure of a lion with a human head, the Higher Council of Antiquities said on Friday.
The headless sandstone statues were found on a road linking the ancient temples of Luxor and Karnak in southern Egypt, antiquities supremo Zahi Hawass said in a statement.
They were unearthed in an area once occupied by a police station that was demolished as part of a project to rescue artifacts, Hawass said.
The statues date from the reign of King Nekhtnebef who founded the 30th Pharaonic dynasty (363-380 BC), Hawass added.
The same team of archaeologists also found a sandstone block engraved with the name of Queen Cleopatra.
The headless sandstone statues were found on a road linking the ancient temples of Luxor and Karnak in southern Egypt, antiquities supremo Zahi Hawass said in a statement.
They were unearthed in an area once occupied by a police station that was demolished as part of a project to rescue artifacts, Hawass said.
The statues date from the reign of King Nekhtnebef who founded the 30th Pharaonic dynasty (363-380 BC), Hawass added.
The same team of archaeologists also found a sandstone block engraved with the name of Queen Cleopatra.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-19 01:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-19 08:30 pm (UTC)Sphinx, might have given a clue as to how they thought the original large one (that we think of) might have looked.
Cleopatra was the last pharaoh, I think, a descendant of the Greek Ptolemies. I's nice to have more relics and/oe information about her.