Luxor statue cache

Seated statue of goddess Hathor

The Luxor statue cache is a grouping of ancient Egyptian statues unearthed in 1989. They were discovered in Luxor, beneath the solar court of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Amenhotep III.

Partial list of statues

• Thutmose III as sphinx, alabaster, 1.095 metres (3 ft 7 in)
• Amenhotep III, standing, red quartzite, 2.49 metres (8 ft 2 in)
• the goddess Iunyt, seated, grey granite 1.45 metres (4 ft 9 in)
• Tutankhamun as sphinx, alabaster (with paint remains) 0.56 metres (1 ft 10 in)
• Horemheb, kneeling holding offering pots, diorite 1.91 metres (6 ft 3 in)
• Amun-Re-Kamutef serpent, grey granite 1.52 metres (5 ft 0 in)
• Amun-Re-Kamutef serpent, grey granite 1.00 metre (3 ft 3 in)
• Goddess Taweret, sandstone, 0.61 metres (2 ft 0 in)

History

The excavation was launched in 1989 under the authority of Mahammed el-Saghir, with routine maintenance by the Luxor antiquities inspectorate. The Luxor cache was buried during the Roman conversion of the area into a military camp. Originally five statues were found at a three-foot depth below a covering layer of small stones; eventually 26 statues were uncovered with some being damaged prior to burial.

• 
  Amenhotep III standing upon Sled of God Tem (oldest creator god Atum)
• 
  Horemheb kneeling

References

• Reeves, Nicholas (2000). "The Luxor Statue Cache". Ancient Egypt, The Great Discoveries, a Year-by-Year Chronicle. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd. pp. 226–228. ISBN 0-500-05105-4.