Massive hoard of statues found in Egypt.

[Anchorman]

 Yet more news from Egypt: From the Funerary temple of Nebmaatre Amenhotep III (Tutankhamun's grandfather) a whole new set of statues of the solar protective deity Sekhmet have been uncovered this year - if we add these 66 statues to the Sekhmet statues of the same king, that gives well over 130 statues of the same deity in that area alone. Sekhmet was an embodiment of the female goddess Hathor in her role as a solar royal protective deity - and the enormous number of such statues shows Amenhotep III's obsession with the solar cult - which reached its height under his son Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten. http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/66-statues-pharaonic-goddess-sekhmet-discovered-luxor

[Anchorman]

And here's a pic of the unearthing of a statue of Amenhotep III from the same dig. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/260538.aspx That makes over 600 statues of Sekhmet found in the Theban area - all sculpted at the time of Amenhotep III. Egypt's precursor to the Terracotta warriors - but in stone, rather than clay.

[Anchorman]

I remember people saying Egypt was all 'dug out' - twenty five years ago. Every year since then, literally dozens of important finds have been made. Yet another report showing that 2017 will be just as fruitful as the last quarter century - bits of statues recovered from waterlogged Heliopolis - but important nonetheless - from today's Luxor Times. http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/ramesses-ii-colossus-discovered-in-old.html?m=1#!/2017/03/ramesses-ii-colossus-discovered-in-old.html

[Anchorman]

I remember people saying Egypt was all 'dug out' - twenty five years ago. Every year since then, literally dozens of important finds have been made. Yet another report showing that 2017 will be just as fruitful as the last quarter century - bits of statues recovered from waterlogged Heliopolis - but important nonetheless - from today's Luxor Times. http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/ramesses-ii-colossus-discovered-in-old.html?m=1#!/2017/03/ramesses-ii-colossus-discovered-in-old.html

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Wee update....the Ramesses statue may be much more important - after all, we have literally dozens of Ramesses' statues.
Instead the statue may well be of Psamtik I of the Saite period - dyn XXVI.Bible scholars might know him as the father of Neco (Nekhau I)

http://m.independent.ie/world-news/egyptian-statue-recently-discovered-is-not-ramses-ii-35538399.html

[Anchorman]

Courtesy of UCL and the Petrie Museum, here's a link to the German expedition currently working on what looks like a fantastic dig at the Amenhotep III funerary temple: https://lisa.gerda-henkel-stiftung.de/conservation_work_at_the_temple_of_amenhotep_iii_at_thebes_by_the_colossi_of_memnon_and_amenhotep_iii_temple_conservation_project?nav_id=6722