MISSION REPORT 2006
[NemesUSA expresses its appreciation to Hourig Sourouzian for providing this report.]
The Mission of the Colossi of Memnon directed by Hourig Sourouzian continues its work at the temple of Aménophis III at Kôm el-Hettan in the spring of 2006. The works are financed largely by THE ASSOCIATION OF THE FRIENDS OF THE COLOSSI OF MEMNON, thanks to the generosity of Madam Monique Hennessy, the President.
After the annual break, the team continued the research works and the conservation on the Colossi of Memnon. To the second pylon, the north Column of Aménophos III, raised the year before, was advanced by 11 metres to allow the next excavation and the renovation of the columns and the foundations will be consolidated and the multiple pieces of the sculpture re-assembled. Simultaneously, the clearing of the massive north column of the second pylon followed.
A system of drainage to lower the level of stratigraphic water for excavations required the digging of trenches around the peristyle court (cloisters) and the hypostyle hall. 1100 metres of perforated pipes were installed then covered with gravel. From it, water is transported towards a big evacuation well 9 metres deep from which, thanks to a pump, pours 700 metres into the Ramsès canal. 450 cubic metres of water are thus extracted per day and the water level lowered by about 3 metres. The current dry ground will facilitate the searches and the conservation works of the peristyle court (cloisters).
During this time, the excavations continued in the northern part of the peristyle court (cloisters) in the research of the head of the hippopotamus in alabaster discovered in 2004, as well as allowed deeper cuttings that, for the first time, have lead to discovering important architectural elements, that do remarkably advance the study of the architecture of the temple.
The most beautiful discovery was the one of a new Aménophis III column, of red granite of which the head is of an exceptional artistic quality, doubtless the most perfect one and the best preserved of all the Aménophis III statues. Another royal head of Nubian character belongs to a magnificent natural statue, but more damaged.
The finding of 41 statues and parts of the Sekhmet goddess at the time of work of the excavation of drainage is the most spectacular result, which raises the number of the statues of the goddess to 62, since the beginning of the excavations of the mission in 2000. These statues of high artistic quality were stored, after cleaning and desalination, in the works store and future museum of the site.
Thanks to these remarkable discoveries, our knowledge of the number of statues and quality of the site of the temple is enriched considerably. However, to preserve them in the long run, it is essential to envisage and prepare a project of Antiquities of Egypt with permission to preserve these sculptures on the site in order to study them, to restore them, and to present them to the visitor at the place of their discovery.
Hourig Sourouzian
Members of the Committee
Madam Monique Hennessy, President
Monsieur Alain Fouguet Abrial, Vice-President
Dr Hourig Sourouzian and Prof. Rainer Stadelmann, Scientific Members
Monsieur Olivier de Baumont, Treasurer
Monsieur Nicolas Gagnebin, Secretary
Monsieur Killian Hennessy, Honorary Member
Madam Evangeline Hersaint
Image 2 (Head of Amenophis III)
Image 3 (Scan of original report in French)
All images and text are the property of the Mission of the Colossi of Memnon.