Israeli archaeologists have found a fragment of an ancient Egyptian statue dating back to the third millennium BC in the city of Hazor, the Huffington Post reported yesterday.
According to archaeologists from the Israeli Hebron University, only the lower part of the statue survived and it is expected to be the foot of a man sitting on a square base, it included a few lines in Egyptian hieroglyphic script. The statue is thought to be of an Egyptian official.
“The title and name of the top Egyptian official are not yet entirely clear,” the archaeologists said, “the statue was originally placed either in the official’s tomb or in a temple – most probably a temple of the Egyptian god Ptah.”
According to local media, the Israeli archaeologists added: “This statue fragment, together with the sphinx fragment of the pyramid-building pharaoh Menkaure, recovered three years ago, are the only monumental Egyptian statues found so far in second millennium contexts in the entire Levant.”
“The discovery of these two statues in the same building indicates the special importance of the building, as well as that of the entire city of Hazor.”
“In the course of close to 30 years of excavation, fragments of 18 different Egyptian statues, both royal and private, dedicated to Egyptian kings and officials, including two sphinxes, were discovered at Hazor.”