Ancient Egyptian queen's statue found

CAIRO: Egyptian antiquity officials announced on Monday the discovery near the southern city of Luxor of a statue believed to be of a queen who was the mother of the pharaoh that shifted the kingdom towards monotheism.

A team of US archeologists have discovered the statue depicting Pharaoh Akhenaten's mother, Queen Tiye, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said.

Queen Tiye, the wife of 18th dynasty (ca. 1539 1292 BC) King Amunhotep III and the mother of Akhenaten, was immortalized in a 1.6-metre black granite statue discovered during work just outside of Luxor at the Temple of Mut.

Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass described the statue as being generally well-preserved although missing one arm and both lower legs.

The queen wears the headdress typical of royalty with its cobras and an eagle. It is topped by a crown with 11 cartouches on which the name Amunhotep is carved in hieroglyphics.

The statue dates from a time when a trend towards more lifelike depiction of the human form was emerging an approach that reached its zenith in the pharaonic era during Akhenaten's reign.

Excavation activities are currently at their peak in Egypt, as most digs take place in the south where winter weather is more conducive to such work.

Source: China Daily