Sunday, October 3, 2010

New statue of Akhenaten's dad found yesterday!

I was hanging out at Dr Zahi Hawass' website, www.drhawass.com - you might remember him as the super enthusiastic egyptologist who was in the Hatshepsut dvd we watched last term.

The granite statue is in the process of being uncovered, and depicts Amenhotep III (Akhenaten's father) wearing the double crown, seated on a throne alongside the god Amun.

I was under the impression that Egyptian artifacts were rarely discovered, but according to Dr Hawass we know a lot about Amenhotep III thanks to the "overwhelming amount of statuary" that has been uncovered, generally featuring the pharaoh seated with other deities such as Bastet, Sobek and Thoth.

The newly found statue in the process of being uncovered.

In other news, Dr Hawass' website is worth a look- he's got his own fan club and everything, which I think is really cute. As the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, he's quite authoritative on the field and writes articles about what's hip and happening in the world of Egyptology.

Slightly more relevant than Akhenaten's dad to our study is this article http://www.drhawass.com/events/quest-hatshepsut-discovering-mummy-egypts-greatest-female-pharaoh where he writes about his 'Quest for Hatshepsut'. His penchant for narrative comes across strongly here as it did in the dvd, although this story-like structure makes for an engaging read that would do well to raise awareness and increase interest in Egyptology. Plus it's illustrated with plenty of full-colour photos!

A image from Dr Hawass' article, "The Quest for Hatshepsut"

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