A 43-foot statue of Amenhotep III, grandfather of Tutankhamun, is once again standing in Egypt after falling in 1200BC due to an earthquake, Fox News reported on Monday.
Archaeologists helped put the 89 large pieces and small fragments back together. It weighs 21 tons and now stands at the northern gate of the funerary temple in the city of Luxor. Two twin statues of the pharaoh, seated, already stand 70 feet tall at the temple.
Hourig Sourouzian, the head of the team of archaeologists working at the temple, said putting the statue back together was one the "the highest standing effigies of an Egyptian king in striding attitude." A second Amenhotep III statue restoring has been going on since March.
The statue depicts the king wearing Upper Egypt's white crown, with each hand holding his name written on a papyrus roll. His belt is buckled with a rectangular clasp inscribed with the names of the king and a design of a dagger with a falcon-head handle, The Guardian reported.
Pharaoh Amenhotep III inherited the empire that spanned from the Euphrates to Sudan, according to archaeologists. He took the throne at age 12 during the 18th dynasty and died in 1354 BC. He was succeeded by his son Amenhotep IV, better known as Akhenaten.
