Enormous Pharaoh Head Found

8-foot artifact is best likeness yet of Amenhotep III
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 1, 2010 3:47 AM CST
Updated Mar 1, 2010 6:00 AM CST
Enormous Pharaoh Head Found
This undated photo shows the newly unearthed 3,400-year -old red granite head, part of a huge statue of the ancient pharaoh Amenhotep III, discovered in the city of Luxor Egypt.   (AP Photo/ Supreme Council of Antiquities)

A remarkably intact stone likeness of the head of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III has been found in the Egyptian city of Luxor. The granite statue is 8 feet tall and gives the most complete picture of the ruler's face. "Other statues have always had something broken—the tip of the nose, or the face is eroded," said the lead archaeologist at the Luxor site. "But here, from the top of the crown to the chin, it is so beautifully carved and polished, nothing is broken."

Amenhotep III was the grandfather off Tutankhamun, and ruled Egypt from approximately 1387 to 1348 BC. The head is the latest part of a mammoth statue of the pharaoh to be found. Antiquities authorities say the statue will be reconstructed for display, the BBC reports.
(More Egypt stories.)

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