Egyptian archaeologists discover Roman-era sphinx statue

The Sphinx statue has just been found. (Source: newsobserver.com)

Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziry said on March 6 that an archaeological delegation of the country discovered a sphinx statue from the Roman period in Qena province in Upper Egypt.

This limestone sculpture, made for the Roman Emperor Tiberius Claudius (AD 41-54), was excavated at a site near the Dendera Temple in Qena.

The Egyptian archaeological mission led by former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities and professor of archaeology at Ain Shams University, Mamdouh el-Damaty, found the statue at the excavation site of a temple dedicated to Horus, built east of the Dendera Temple during the Roman period.

In addition to this statue, archaeologists also found a stele engraved with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and Demotic characters (the common Egyptian script used in the first millennium BC) at the bottom of the stele.

The sphinx statue was excavated near the Dendera temple, Qena, Egypt. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

The mission also unearthed the remains of a two-story limestone maqsura (enclosed space) containing a cistern made of red bricks covered with mortar. The structure is believed to date back to the Byzantine period.

The archaeological mission began excavation work at the site in February, using radar to search for empty spaces and Osirian-style corridors at the Temple of Dendera and magnetic and radio surveys in the area east of the temple's perimeter wall in front of the Isis Gate.

The surveys were carried out in collaboration with a team of experts from the National Institute of Astronomy & Geophysics.

VNA

Source: http://www.baovanhoa.vn/the-gioi/artmid/425/articleid/61908/cac-nha-khao-co-ai-cap-phat-hien-buc-tuong-nhan-su-tu-thoi-la-ma