Repaired Amenhotep III statue stands tall after 3200 years

Pharaoh Amenhotep III is back on his feet again following an earthquake that knocked down the giant statue some 3,200 years ago.

After two months of strenuous work, Amenhotep III’s statue in Luxor has largely been restored to its former glory, thanks to the joint efforts of German and Egyptian archaeologists.

According to Egypt’s Ministry of State for Antiquities, the giant quartzite statue of the pharaoh, weighing over 50 tons and measuring 13 meters in height, was pieced together from four large fragments and hundreds of smaller pieces. The restored statue was unveiled on Sunday.

Amenhotep III’s statue now stands erect next to another, nearly identical statue of the pharaoh. One of the chief archaeologists from the German team, Hourig Sourouzian, told AFP, “These are up until now the highest standing statues of an Egyptian king in striding attitude.”

Sourouzian and his team unearthed another two statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III in March this year.

Located on the West Bank of the Nile in Luxor (formerly Thebes), around 700 kilometers south of Cairo, Amenhotep III’s statue now stands high above the ruins of his temple, which was largely decimated by earthquakes, along with subsequent erosion and agricultural encroachment. The pharaoh’s temple is believed to have been built sometime between 1390 and 1353 BCE.

Amenhotep III (aka Amenophis III, or Nebma’tre) was the ninth king of Ancient Egypt’s Eighteenth Dynasty (or Thutmosid Dynasty). Historically, he was considered amongst the most successful emperors from the New Kingdom Dynasty.

Amenhotep III reigned from around 1388 until 1350 BCE. His son and successor Amenhotep IV would later change his name to Akhenaten (or Pharaoh Akhnaton), widely considered to be the world's first monotheist — worshiping the sun god Aton and briefly relocating Egypt’s capital from Thebes to Tal al-Amarna (located in modern day Minya Governorate).