Foto: La cabeza, que mide 1,20 metros de altura y está muy bien conservada, es pese a sus dimensiones un universo de proporciones ajustadas y equilibradas. Tiene ojos con forma de almendra realzada por franjas de cosmética, una nariz corta y una boca grande con amplios labios. Minister of State for Antiquities (MSA).

Los habitantes del actual Luxor siguen aún fascinados por los majestuosos colosos de Memnón. Y relatan que los gigantes solían cantar al alba hasta que un emperador romano restauró las figuras, heridas por un terremoto en el año 27 a.C. Entonces el silbido, producido por el cambio de temperatura, se volvió mudo y nació la leyenda.

Fuente: Francisco Carrión, El Cairo | El Mundo.es, 31 de mayo de 2011 

Las dos estatuas sedentes de Amenhotep III (1390-1352 a.C.), situadas en la ribera occidental del Nilo, son unos de los últimos vestigios del que fuera el más espectacular complejo funerario del antiguo Egipto. El sino de estos guardianes, apostados en la entrada de un templo desaparecido, puede cambiar. Una excavación arqueológica ha anunciado el hallazgo de un coloso de alabastro del gran rey junto a una estela y las cabezas de una deidad y del monarca.

La figura fue descubierta en lo que debió ser el pasillo que conducía al tercer pilono del complejo, a unos 200 metros de los colosos de Memnón. Según Zahi Hawass, ministro de estado de Antigüedades egipcio, el rostro de la estatua es una obra maestra del retrato real. Muestra a un Amenhotep III con barba real sentado y ataviado con una falda plisada (llamada 'shendyt') y nemes, la tela que cubría la cabeza de los reyes egipcios. 

El coloso desenterrado es una de las dos estatuas que debieron derrumbarse tras el terremoto pero algunas de sus partes aún son visibles en la capa aluvial del Nilo. La pieza trasera del trono de una de las figuras había sido encontrada en anteriores excavaciones. Los responsables de la misión aseguran que el resto de partes serán restauradas gradualmente y la estatua será colocada en su ubicación original en un futuro próximo.

A juicio del director de la misión, Hourig Suruzian, el hallazgo es importante para la historia del arte egipcio y de la escultura porque la pieza está excepcionalmente tallada en alabastro, una piedra extraída de las canteras de Hatnub en el medio Egipto y empleada rara vez en colosos que miden aproximadamente unos 18 metros.

En los trabajos de limpieza y cartografía efectuados en la parte central del gran atrio del templo, donde hay partes del pavimento original, se han encontrado otros restos como la cabeza de una deidad, de 28,5 centímetros, que representa a un dios masculino, y una estela de cuarcita roja que ha sido reconstruida a partir de 27 grandes piezas hasta alcanzar 7,40 metros sobre los nueve de la obra original. Su restauración se completará la próxima temporada, según los responsables de la misión.

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The results of fieldwork at Kom el-Hettan

By Dr. Hawass

 
During their excavation at the funerary temple of the 18th Dynasty king, Amenhotep III (c. 1390-1352 BC), at Kom el-Hettan on the west bank of Luxor, the mission of the Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project unearthed an alabaster colossus of the great king. The team has also discovered the head of a deity, as well as restoring a stele and a head of the same king.

Dr. Zahi Hawass, Minister of State for Antiquities (MSA), has announced that the colossal statue shows Amenhotep III seated, and wearing the Nemes headdress, a pleated shendjyt kilt and a royal beard. It was found in the passageway leading to the third pylon (gate) of the funerary temple, 200 m behind the Colossi of Memnon, which guarded the first pylon.

“The statue is the northern one of a pair of colossi that were once placed at the gate of the third pylon,” reported Hawass. It is likely that both statues collapsed during an earthquake that took place in antiquity, but parts of them were still visible in a layer of Nile alluvium. 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.

Hawass has described the face of Amenhotep III on this colossus as a masterpiece of royal portraiture. It has almond shaped eyes outlined with cosmetic bands, a short nose and a large mouth with wide lips, delimited with a sharp ridge. It is very well preserved and measures 1.20 m in height. In spite of its large scale, the face is extremely well carved and well proportioned.

Dr. Hourig Sourouzian, the head of the mission, has also described the discovery as very important for the history of Egyptian art and sculpture, as well as for the story of the temple. 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. 

During clearance and mapping work on the central part of the temple’s great court, where more parts of the original pavement were uncovered, Dr. Sourouzian’s mission has further discovered the head of a deity carved in granodiorite. The head is 28.5 cm high and represents a male god wearing a striated wig. Part of his plaited divine beard is preserved under the chin.

Also discovered in the great court was a red quartzite stele of Amenhotep III, which Mohamed Abdel Fatah, Head of the Pharaonic Sector of the MSA, reports as having been restored by the mission. Dr. Sourouzian described how the stone conservators and specialists of the team gradually reconstructed the stele from 27 large pieces and several smaller ones, up to a height of 7.40 m (4/5 of its original height). 

The stele was originally 9 m tall and its restoration will be completed next season when its round top will be put back in place. This part of the stele bears two scenes representing Amenhotep III and his queen consort, Tiye, bringing offerings to the gods, Amun-Re and Sokar. The rest of the stele is decorated with 25 lines of sunken hieroglyphic inscriptions, which list the temples Amenhotep III dedicated to the great gods of Thebes.

The mission also reattached the beard of a red granite head of this king, currently being exhibited at Luxor Museum on the east bank. According to documents and photos taken at the time of its discovery, the head and the beard were found together by Dr. Labib Habachi in 1957, but until now the head was exhibited beardless. After searching inside the storerooms of Luxor, Dr. Sourouzian found the missing piece, and a team of restorers reattached it to the head and put it back on display.