Pedestals of Road of Rams¹ statues found
Egypt, Culture, 4/4/2000

The mission of the Supreme Council of Antiquities discovered the pedestals of the sphinx-like statues Road of Rams in Luxor and a stone on which the name of Onas, the last king of the fifth dynasty, was carved, said SCA chairman.

"The excavation is historically significant," said Gaballah Ali Gaballah, noting that king Nakht-Nib-Auf who built this part of the Road of Rams wanted to immortalize the name of king for his great works in Thebes, the ancient name of Luxor.

"King Onas played a role in the construction of that road which had also an apparent role since the old Kingdom, 2450 BC," said Gaballah.

Gaballah's statements came at the close of the 8th international conference of Egyptology which started on March 28.

"Excavations started in 1992 in seven locations with the aim of unraveling the remaining part of the Road of Rams and the owners of the spots were compensated," said Mohammed Al-Saghir, Head of the Egyptian Antiquities Department and leader of the mission.

The findings proved that the Road of Rams links all Thebes' temples which extend in a chain along the east bank of the Nile and links also the temples of the west bank of the river, added Saghir.

The road extends in a straight 2446-meter-long lines from Luxor Temple in the north and westward towards the Nile and eastward towards Mut temple.

It goes northward to link the two temples of "kA-Mu-Tif" and eastward until it reaches the upper cabin of the Holy Boat of Thutmosis III.

It continues northward until it clashes with the tenth edifice of Karnak temple and goes through the north-south axis of Karnak temple to link it with Monto temple.

The side route goes eastward to link the Road of Rams with Akhenaton temples which were there in the east of Karnak before their destruction during the reign of Hur Moheb and where there are 625 statues.

"Excavations proved that the Road of Rams used to link all the Thebes temples and mark the ancient city map with its temples and quarters. it shows that king Tut Ankhamun and his successor king Ai constructed the part between Mut Temple and the tenth edifice and pledged to maintain and repair this strategic road," said Saghir.

The road builders recorded their activities and inscribed their names, namely: king Setti II of the 19th dynasty' king Hrihur of the 21st dynasty, Chief Priest Minkhbar Ra of the 21st dynasty and more leading figures down to the Greek age.

Previous Stories:
  French team discovers Queen's Pyramid in Sakkara   (3/30/2000)
  Fresh archaeological find in Qena   (2/9/2000)
  Archaeological find beneath Koam ad-Dekkah   (2/2/2000)

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