Archaeologists are calling for the removal of a statue in the Luxor Temple, which was described as “mutilated”.
Egyptian archaeologists renewed their demands for the removal of a statue belonging to Ramesses II, which was restored two years ago and placed in front of the main shrine in the Luxor Temple, speaking of “flagrant distortions.”
Professor of Ancient Egyptian Antiquities at Cairo University, Dr. Ahmed Issa, published a picture of the restored statue of Ramesses II on his Facebook page, and asked: “When can this statue, with the double crown of a ruling (living) king, be replaced by the Osiris status of a (dead) king? And with an Osirian figure without the cloak, and a body enclosed like a mummy?” Describing it as a “monstrous statue” of the great Ramesess, Pharaoh Ramesses II, and explaining that “it is not correct to exist in such a place, just as it has a hunchback (the head is embedded in the shoulders without an appropriate neck proportion). ), and thin arms and forearms disproportionate to the size of the body parts, with a relatively swollen belly, and a shorter length than what ancient Egyptian artists used to represent in their standing statues (in the usual proportion where the head is 1/7 of the body length) ».
Controversial statue (Ahmed Issa page)
Issa said that he was exempted from his position as a member of the Standing Committee for Egyptian Antiquities 3 years ago, because he was accused of being “the owner of a riotous and disobedient voice in the council,” and for his position on this statue, which “was executed by cutting and pasting around an original head only,” as he put it.
In 2018, the joint Egyptian-American archaeological mission began the work of restoring and assembling the last statue of King Ramses II, which is located in front of the first edifice in Luxor Temple.
The Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri, said at the time that the work was carried out in cooperation with the “Chicago House” Institute, and included assembling, restoring, re-installing, raising and displaying the statue in its original place in the first edifice of the Luxor Temple, among 5 statues of King Ramses II, collected by the Ministry of Antiquities during the two years. 2016 and 2017 and restored it.
However, Issa stresses that “putting it in front of the facade of the Luxor Temple contradicts the logic and the explicit archaeological evidence of the image of this facade inside this same temple.”
The remains of the statue were revealed during the excavations of the Egyptian archaeological mission headed by Mohamed Abdel Qader inside the temple between 1958-1960, where he and other destroyed statues were found. It is likely that they were destroyed as a result of an earthquake in the Pharaonic era, and they were scattered parts.
And the former Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr. Muhammad Abdel Maksoud, believes that Issa’s scientific observations regarding this statue are worthy and important, because he is one of the most prominent scholars of the ancient Egyptian civilization.
He adds to Asharq Al-Awsat: “In addition to Egyptian scholars’ criticism of the process of restoring this statue, foreign experts criticized it as well. Because it is not permissible to complete a statue of which there is only 20 percent of its archaeological body; Or rather, only its head and feet, and therefore this statue violates all international restoration rules, ”noting that“ placing this (distorted) statue in front of the Luxor Temple, which is registered in the (UNESCO) lists, offends Egyptian civilization, and the function of restoration is to protect the antiquities, not to design them as they are. It happened with this statue.
The Luxor Temple was built for the worship of Amun-Ra, and its entrance begins with the edifice built by Ramesses II, and inside it are two huge statues representing him sitting. Two obelisks precede the temple. One of them is still standing and the other is in the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
This edifice is followed by the courtyard of Ramses II, which is surrounded on three sides by two rows of columns in the form of a supported papyrus bundle. In the northeastern part, the Abu al-Hajjaj Mosque is currently built.
The remaining parts of the temple were built by Amenhotep the Third, and it begins with the huge hypostyle hall with 14 columns divided into two rows, then the large open courtyard, surrounded on three sides by two rows of columns.
And considering the head of the “Egyptian Association for Tourism and Archaeological Development in Luxor,” Ayman Abu Zaid, that the restoration of the statues of the Luxor façade is a “Mahmoud effort,” he asserts that “the restoration process for some of the statues of the temple façade should have been clarified through a banner explaining the history of the restored statue and its details, lest The tourist thinks that it is a completely original statue because of the current display method, and forms an incorrect point of view.
And he assures Asharq Al-Awsat that he explains this matter to the tourist delegations that he accompanies during tours of the temple, pointing out that “they accept the matter after knowing the truth.”
Abu Zeid points out that the current image of the temple, which includes 6 statues on the facade of Luxor, “is better than before, but the opinions of all specialists should be taken advantage of when addressing the restoration of an important statue or the creation of any iconic design in a field.”
2023-07-28 17:59:00
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