Archaeologists unveil two colossal pharaoh statues in Egypt
Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III rose again in the historic city of Luxor on Sunday.
Archaeologists unveiled two massive statues of the ancient king – one nearly 38-feet-tall and weighing 250 tons – that were raised near their original sites in Amenhotep's funerary temple on the west banks of the Nile.
They join a pair of already-famous giants at the temple known as the Colossi of Memnon.
Those two statues, also made of red quartzite, show the pharaoh seated on his throne.
The new monoliths were discovered in pieces, suffering from severe weather-related damage, before being restored and raised to their current standing position.
"Every ruin, every monument has its right to be treated decently," German-Armenian archaeologist Hourig Sourouzian, who heads the conservation project, told Agence France-Presse.
The temple was erected between 1390 and 1353 BC, according to the World Monuments Fund.
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