The Minister of Antiquities, Dr. Mamdouh Eldamaty, declared the discovery of the lower part of a royal statue carved with the name of King “Sahure”, second of the fifth Dynasty Kings of the Old Kingdom. The discovery was made during excavations by the “Royal Art Museum” Belgian Mission in the Elkab Area, northern Edfu (Aswan Governorate). The Belgian Mission, directed by Dr. Dirk Huyge, began excavating in this area in 2009. The statue, executed in fine-grained sandstone, undoubtedly represents the king seated on a throne. Its original height can be estimated at about 70 cm.
The importance of this discovery lies in the rarity of the King’s statues (only two Sahure statues are known; one of them is shown at the Metropolitan Museum, USA, while the other is displayed at the Egyptian Museum, Cairo). The Elkab region carries a very important value in Egyptian history because it was the capital of Upper Egypt during Pre-History and the capital of the third Nome until the Ptolemaic Age. Elkab lies on the east bank of the River Nile and combines a lot of the rock cut noble tombs that date back to the New Kingdom.
Source: Ministry of Antiquities, Egypt
