Among Giants

At what used to be the front gate to the temple of Amenhotep the Third, two great sitting kings were built about 3600 years ago and have inspired modern era mythologies in many ways since then - including Tolkien’s Middle Earth where the statues of two kings guard the gate to Argonath in Middle Earth.

The temple site behind the colossi has had a dewatering system installed in 2010 and as a result is now the source of many recently discovered large sculptures reported in the media over the past few months.

Fifty metres further along a path to the heart of the temple, has been found the foundation of a giant pylon - a wall structure typical of Egyptian temples.

Still further west on the same path are the remains of an interior courtyard in the temple. Here many of the recently reported discoveries have been made. Some sphinxes are wrapped at the base of a giant “stele” – an inscription with information from during the time of Amenhotep III.

Further still along the axis of this giant temple – a row of pedestals have been uncovered. A couple of the original statues have been discovered and erected again.

The view from Qorna mountain shows the entire temple site – now visibly drier than the surrounding agricultural land.