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…

The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia that is often regarded as the earliest surviving great work of literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts. Wikipedia

Gilgamesh: He Who Saw the Deep

The Last Day… YEEEHHH… I am really amused!! 😂🤣

Yes, I am a retired pensioner person though, I’d never know what it really is! I mean; I have been feeling as an artist all through my life and I believe that an artist will never get retired, do they? why! there is always some ideas, something to create.

Of course, you might ask me that my job in the last almost 30 years could have nothing to do with the Arts and you might be right but, believe me, if you began your life with some kind of art in the society, you can’t leave it.

Yes, my destiny forced me to chose a job which I wasn’t really wanting it but a must to earn mony to survive, and I made of this dry, boring and trivial work an interesting one, a loving, caring and even intellectual kind of work, though, I tell you; in this business the word intelligence is a foreign word!

Anyway, I did my best and I can proudly say that some nice old people as my regular customers, will miss me 😉

Now let me tell you what I had done, or beter to say tried to do in Iran after Khomaynie regime closed down all the newspapers, you know, in that time in Iran, after so-called; Iranian Spring; in the Spring of 1979, in which at the beginning, we could touch a hint of freedom, the Mullah’s regime closed all the real and free newspapers, I have tried my talent on the stages. and I succeeded; played as an Ape; as you can see here, and I was also a Lion, a Bear, and a soldier. I got in the world of the theatre, just to keep being creative. and of course, it was an unforgettable time in my life

There I am, an Ape with something 😉 that is my time in (not Paris) but in Tehran, when I, and some experts, discovered my talent as an actor😁🤣
Here I must add that I was lucky to get a master of make-up to do this wonderful mask on my face. And it was an act for the children which we’ve played on the stage and also on the TV show.

I myself, as always carefully saying; being an artist, or at least being surrounded by the artists all through my life, tried to give my best, and I can not imagine someone can do this without the ability of creation.

here are other roles which I took over to play;

I must confess that I was actually always a musician. 😉🤗

Anyway, I was never in any position to work… and work it out… and get retired! In my life the work is the art, to create; the one is there to try to make it, not perfect but better, harmonically nice and beautiful… the feeling like; now I’m done! let’s… have a look 🤔😎

but you know what I mean; if somebody has something to do with a kind of arts and creations, can never be a pensioner.., there is nothing to stop; nobody can limit or control the imaginations, they are unlimited.

I think somehow; Fact doesn’t actually exist, just let the imagination run and never stop! 😊

And there it is; an important question which still remains: the question of “How is it, to be Retired? Of course, it’s another story 😂😅 stay safe everyone 💖👍✌🙏💖

So let’s start confiding,
The secret that we’re hiding
(Beautiful Song on a meaningful Poem) 💖🙏👌