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Unique Egyptian sphinx unearthed in north Israel
 [Al Ahram] Part of an ancient Egyptian king's unique sphinx was unveiled at a dig in northern Israel on Tuesday, with researchers struggling to understand just how the unexpected find ended up there."Im-hotep!" "Yes, Your Enormity!" The broken granite sphinx statue -- including the paws and some of the mythical creature's forearms -- displayed at Tel Hazor archaeological site in Israel's Galilee, is the first such find in the region. "Those guys in Tel Hazor. You know, the ones with the beards and the goats?" "Yes, Your Holiness!" Its discovery also marks the first time ever that researchers have found a statue dedicated to Egyptian ruler Mycerinus who ruled circa 2,500 BC and was builder of one of the three Giza pyramids, an expert said. "Send them a sphinx!" "Of course, Son of the Sun!" "And tell me why I have a Roman name again." "This is the only monumental Egyptian statue ever found in the Levant - today's Israel, Leb, Syria," Amnon Ben-Tor, an archaeology professor at the Hebrew University in charge of the Tel Hazor dig, told AFP. "Heh heh! If they dig that up five thousand years from now they're really gonna be puzzled!" "Yes, Your Immensity!" "It is also the only sphinx of this particular king known, not even in Egypt was a sphinx of that particular king found." "It will be a real thigh-smacker!" "You got a real sense of humor there, O Beacon of Wisdom!" Ben-Tor said that besides Mycerinus's name, carved in hieroglyphics between the forearms, there are symbols reading "beloved by the divine souls of Heliopolis". "Make sure you put my name on it, too, so they know who it's from!" "Of course, Beloved of the Divine Souls of Heliopolis!" "This is the temple in which the sphinx was originally placed," Ben-Tor said of Heliopolis, an ancient city which lies north of today's Cairo. "I've been wanting a new sphinx for the place." "Good idea, O Vast One!" Tel Hazor, which Ben-Tor calls "the most important archaeological site in this country," was the capital of southern Canaan, founded circa 2,700 BC and at its peak covering approximately 200 acres and home to some 20,000 Canaanites. It was destroyed in the 13th century BC. Posted by: Fred 2013-07-10 |
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