TUtANKHAMUN’s GRANNy

Archæologists working under the umbrella of the German Archæological Institute have discovered a well-preserved alabaster statue thought to represent Queen Tiye, wife of King Amenhotep III and grandmother of King Tutankhamun. It was found at the Amenhotep III funerary temple in Kom El-Hittan, one of the largest and most impressive in Luxor. The excavators were lifting the lower part of a statue of Amenhotep III when the Queen Tiye statue appeared by its left leg. It is the first alabaster statue of the queen to be unearthed; all previous statues of her unearthed in the temple were carved from quartzite. It shows Tiye wearing the vulture headdress worn by pharaonic queens, as well as the Uræus, the rearing cobra, a symbol of Egypt. Dr Hourig Sourouzian, who led the excavation, says the statue is in very good condition considering its age, and has maintained all of its ancient colours. Tiye is believed to have outlived her husband and to have ruled alongside her son Amenhotep IV (reigned c.1353-c.1336 BC), who renamed himself Akhenaten as he abandoned traditional Egyptian religion for his monotheistic solar cult. See Ft117:28-31, 122:49.

Earlier in March, the German archaeological mission at the temple had uncovered dozens of diorite stone statues depicting the lion-headed warrior goddess Sekhmet, probably arranged to protect the temple from danger. The statues show the goddess in both the sitting and standing position, holding a sceptre of the papyrus flower and the symbol of life. archaeology. org, 23 Mar; dailymail.com, 24 Mar; Times, 25 Mar 2017.