“A German-Egyptian mission directed by Hourig Sourouzian uncovered a collection of huge limestone pieces belonging to a pair of royal sphinxes as well as the remains of walls and columns decorated with festive and ritual scenes in Luxor. The mission was being carried out in the temple of Amenhotep III as part of ‘The Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project’.

Both colossal sphinxes were found half submerged in water at the rear of the gateway of the third pylon. The heads of these sphinxes have been subject to meticulous cleaning and consolidation.

The mission has also discovered three busts and three lower parts of statues of the lioness goddess Sekhmet in granodiorite at the façade of the Peristyle Court and in the Hypostyle Hall of the temple. These pieces will be reassembled with others found earlier at the site and will be put on display in the temple during the realisation of the site management project.

Sourouzian, the head of the archaeological mission, revealed the importance of such discoveries by explaining that the presence of this pair of colossal sphinxes attests to the beginning of the processional way leading from the third pylon to the Peristyle Court, where the beautiful ‘Festival of the Valley’ was celebrated each year, as well as the jubilee festivals of the king in the last decade of his reign.” [X]