Here they are; The godlike giants of ancient Egypt and how the mortal man had to gather all pieces together!! A fascinating description of the heritage from one of the greatest mystery of our past.

Translated from French https://egyptophile.blogspot.com/?m=1

With great Thanks by ; Marie Grillot

Marie Grillot Égypte-actualités

“”Amenhotep III and his wife Tiyi are seated side by side and, being very “singular”, the queen has been represented in the same size as pharaoh. This attests to the importance she had acquired, not only on a personal level but also at the “political” level.””

The “new” Museum of Egyptian Antiquities “in Kasr-el-Nile Tahrir Square, a building in the Western neoclassical style, was officially inaugurated on November 15, 1902, by the Khedive Abbas Hilmi.

Gaston Maspero managed to publish the first version of the Visitor’s Guide at the Cairo Museum in due course. He takes care to specify that its development is not yet finished and that, in particular, “the decor of the central atrium is not complete. This is where the heaviest and largest must appear of our monuments, the colossi from various points in Egypt, the fragments of obelisks, the pyramids, but many of these heavy pieces have not yet arrived in Cairo and they are waiting among the ruins for the Service to have the necessary resources to remove them ”…

Four years later, in letters addressed to his wife Louise, dated June 21 and June 28, 1908, respectively, Maspero thus mentions the installation of the statuary group of Amenhotep III and Tiyi (reference: GM 610) who sits enthroned – for almost 110 years now – in the central atrium: “Tomorrow, we are setting up the feet of the colossal group in the Central Atrium: This will be the last novelty for this year.” Then a week later: “Fortunately, work is progressing, and I think that the colossus can be finished before my departure. He went up to the knees, and now we’re going to attack the bodies and the heads. Brugsch and Daressy declare that he will not be well, that he is in too many pieces: we let them say and we go ahead, a little later, they will tell that they had the idea, that ‘they wanted to do everything, but Barsanti and I spoiled the work by mixing it up. It’s always the same comedy. “

We can well imagine the atmosphere in which was “reassembled this group of more than 7 m high, magnificently sculpted in limestone”. And if the business was certainly very complicated, we can only recognize its success!

This group, as been discovered very damaged, comes from the west bank of Thebes: its – or theirs – “discoverer (s)” as well as the place of its discovery are thus indicated to us.

In an article published in 2011, in ASAE n ° 85, Zahi Hawass, Abdel Ghaffar Wagdy and Mohamed Abdel Badea write “that it was found in Medinet Habu, near the Roman court, in 1859 by Auguste Mariette. When it was discovered many parts of the statue were missing and it was restored by filling in the gaps. “

Gaston Maspero said that it had been “discovered by Daressy in 1892, during the clearing of the temple of Medinet Habu” and that it was, on his orders, “brought to the Museum piece by piece by Daressy and by Baraize, from 1906 to 1908 “.

As for the interpretation of David O’Connor and Eric H. Cline, in their book Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign, it is very interesting because it parallels the context of current and “ancient” locations: “A double statue colossal limestone was found in the fields opposite the funerary temple of Aï – Horemheb (immediately north of Medinet Habou, probably the site of the great south door of the mortuary complex of Amenhotep). ”

Amenhotep III and his wife Tiyi are seated side by side and, being very “singular”, the queen has been represented in the same size as pharaoh. This attests to the importance she had acquired, not only on a personal level but also at the “political” level.

Tiyi was the daughter of Youya and Touya whom Pierre Tallet presents as follows: “Youya was originally from Akhmim in Middle Egypt and bore the titles of director of the royal stables and of the divine father; her mother Touya was “royal ornament” and singer of Amun “.

“The arrangements” for the marriage of Amenhotep III and Tiyi – which occurred in year II of the reign of the pharaoh – were inscribed on “a series of commemorative scarabs”.The titles which her parents gave her are numerous: “Noble Lady”, “Great Favorite”, “Great Royal Bride”, “Sovereign of the Two Lands”, “Who fills the palace with love”,… She was an influential sovereign, not only during the reign of her husband but also during that of her son, Amenophis IV – Akhenaton.

She wears a heavy and voluminous wig on which is placed a crown, a simple mortar. On its forehead are erected Ureus, symbolizing the double country. Her full face is serene, “the high cheekbones, almond-shaped eyes and curved eyebrows are typical of the period”. Her lips are well-drawn and hemmed. She is wearing a long, form-fitting dress that delicately sculpts her chest and reveals her thin waist. Her left-hand lies flat on her thigh while with her right arm she tenderly embraces her husband. Her thick feet are bare.

Amenhotep III is capped with uraeus nemes. Her face – perfectly symmetrical – seems to be imbued with quiet strength. The cheeks are full, the almond-shaped eyes are surmounted by marked eyebrows. The nose is of an ideal proportion with slightly flat nostrils. The mouth with hemmed lips is sensual. The ears are worked with care. The false beard is streaked with horizontal bands sculpted in relief and leaves slightly flared.

The couple is pictured with three of their daughters. They take place, standing, on the front of the seat, along the legs of their parents: one on the left, the other on the right and best preserved in the centre. The princesses “Henouttaneb, Nebetah and the third whose name is lost” are very small but they bring tenderness and “humanity” to this colossal group…

Thanks to them, this representation of the royal couple, frozen in their functions, also suggests a family story…

Marie Grillot

sources

Gaston Maspero, Letters from Egypt, correspondence with Louise Maspero, Seuil, 2003

Visitor’s Guide to the Cairo Museum , Gaston Maspero, 1902, the French Institute of Printing Cairo

Visitor’s Guide to the Cairo Museum (4th ed. – 1915), Gaston Maspero, French printing the Cairo Institute

Same

The Egyptian Museum in Cairo , Abeer El-Shahawy, Mathaf al-Misri

Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign , David O’Connor, Eric H. Cline

” The discovery of the missing pieces of the statue of Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye at the Egyptian Museum, Cairo ,” Zahi Hawass, Abdel Ghaffar Wagdy Mohamed Abdel Badea

” Amenhotep III ” (antikforever)

Original:

Amenhotep III et Tiyi du Musée du Caire : plus qu’une statue colossale, un groupe familial !
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Groupe statuaire d’Amenhotep III et de la reine Tiyi Musée égyptien du Caire – réf. GM 610 Le “nouveau” Musée des Antiqu…

http://Amenhotep III et Tiyi du Musée du Caire : plus qu’une statue colossale, un groupe familial ! › Groupe statuaire d’Amenhotep III et de la reine Tiyi Musée égyptien du Caire – réf. GM 610 Le “nouveau” Musée des Antiqu…