LUXOR, Egypt (AFP) - Buried for nearly 3,600 years, a rare statue of Egypt's King Neferhotep I has been brought to light in the ruins of Thebes by a team of French archaeologists.




Officials said on Saturday that the statue was unusual in that the king is depicted holding hands with a double of himself, although the second part of the carving remains under the sand and its form has been determined by the use of imaging equipment.

Archeologists unearthed the 1.8 metre (six foot) tall statue, as they were carrying out repairs around Karnak Temple in the southern city of Luxor, Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass told reporters.

Francois Larche, one of the team that found the limestone statue of the king, whose name means "beautiful and good", said it was lying about 1.6 metres below ground near an obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut, the only woman to have reigned as a pharoah in Egypt, ruling from 1504-1484 BC.

Karnak, now in the heart of Luxor, was built on the ruins of Thebes, the capital of ancient Egypt. The huge temple dedicated to the god Amon lies in the heart of a vast complex of religious buildings in the city, 700 kilometres (435 miles) south of Cairo.

The statue shows the king wearing a funeral mask and royal head cloth or nemes, said Larche.

The forehead bears an emblem of a cobra, which ancient Egyptians used as a symbol on the crown of the pharaohs. They believed that the cobra would spit fire at approaching enemies.

Larche said this was only the second time such a statue had been found in Egypt. A similar one was dug up during the excavations of the hidden treasures of Karnak from 1898 to 1904.

But it is not clear when or if the statue will be completely unearthed. It is blocked by the remnants of an ancient structure, possibly a gate.

"In order to pull it out, a structure on top of the statue has to be dismantled and then restored," said Larche, adding that permission from the Egyptian antiquities authorities was needed before the team could go ahead with plans to raise the statue.

"It's up to the Higher Council of Egyptian Antiquities to decide on the fate of the statue of Neferhotep I and whether it will be brought to light or left buried where it was found."

Neferhotep was the 22nd king of the 13th Dynasty. The son of a temple priest in Abydos, he ruled Egypt from 1696-1686 BC.

Experts believe his father's position helped him to ascend the throne, as there was no royal blood in his family.

Neferhotep was one of the few pharaohs whose name did not invoke the sun god, Re. It is written on a number of stones, including a document on his reign found in Aswan.





http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/egyptantiquiti...DJlYmhvBHNlYwM-

There is a photo on the website.

alredy a major news item......

But its not exactly the oldest by egyptian standards is it


isn't it funny the further you go back into egyptian history the bluer the eyes get

careful now
sum1 will think ur suggesting they descending from a white, blonde super race or something...
that loved to dye they hair....

have you met Tutankhamens gran and grandad yet ?

Lovely couple. But I think they could use some sunblock.

A very EXCITING find!

Got that right!

eh ?
this is commonly known guys
why you think Akhnaton (Amenhotep IV) married Nefertiti anyway ?

It's not commonly known if I didn't know about it. *rolls eyes*

does your area of knowledge include Egypt now as well as places that never actually existed Like atlantis lemuria and mu ?
you know about narnia right


answer me this then
What does Narmer have to do with catfish

Narnia?

No. Not yet. But as I said I've been outta the loop for a bit, like a couple of years. I have to research a lot again. And you seem to spark my interest in alotta this stuff. I might have known before, but not at present. Unless you'd like to present some 411 for my benefit?

Thats the second time you've said 411
translate into english for me
is it some sort of code ?

411 is information here in Canada. Sorry, I forgot you are in England. 411 is the number that we dial to get the information operator. Thus, instead of using the words: information or info, it's cooler just to say 411. For example: "Gimme the 411."

what do you want first
narnia or narmer

......connection failed.......

Shhh i got a couple of good links to each i've been saving for just this kind of occaison
just to clarify A R
would you like to know more about Narmer the first unifier of upper and lower egypt
or Narnia the fabled lost world along the same lines as mu and lemuria and atlantis

Anything would help.

ok then
read this and then get back to me
ahahahahahahahaha
thankyou i'd like to thank my friends, my agent, my mother and roswell man and everyone else who helped me to set this up
A R !
You got some reading to do

That has to be the funniest thing I've seen all week Marduk - thanks!

You know it was almost as good as david copperfield
Now that's reached almost legendary status
I heard someone talking about it on a forum the other day like it was a legend and a fable to tell your kids
and the guy that pulled it off,
who was that masked man
Marty something

it took me 15 minutes just to get back to my knees

You're mocking me, aren't you? *sigh*

i suggest u do sum research then AR
then marduk go easy on u....

Narnia is completely the same as lemuria and atlantis
totally fictional in origin
Maybe A R should just research C.S. Lewis

at least narnia makes sense in the 'real' world
A and L are wishful thinking....

NARNIA NARNIA NARNIA WOOOOOOOOOO ME loves narnia But narbia is done and gone stupid seventh book

Actually i have an entrance to Narnia in my hall cupboard.
as my kitchen cupboards full of turkish delight and my bedroom full of lion pelts and the pleas for mercy from the snow queen in the cellar dungeon attest

And you basement is full of dung.

What you saying...
that i should provide a bucket or something
what kind of a twisted weirdo do you think I am ?

I think you just answered your own question. j/k

Obviously you don't think like i do or you'd know just exactly why i'm keeping the snow queen in irons in my personal dungeon.....without a bucket
muhahahahahah

what does j/k

this does

j/k means "just kidding".

oh er ok
i thought it was abbreviated for j k rowling

Now you're just being rediculous.

Ridiculous.....no
uneducated guess....maybe

mummy found by zahi hawass

5,000 yr old mummy

Thats a big fat lie
he couldn't find his ass with both hands if he had a map