Karnak Amun-Re statue not recently restored as claimed - Ancient Egypt - Heritage - Ahram Online

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Karnak Amun-Re statue not recently restored as claimed

Egypt's antiquities ministry denies that the rectangular leg statue of god Amun-Re at Karnak Temple has been restored recently, saying an image circulating showing it with cement legs is 50 years old

Nevine El-Aref , Saturday 6 Feb 2016

The statue with rectangular legs

Social media and Twitter users have been making jokes about a limestone statue of god Amun-Re in Karnak Temple on Luxor's east bank. The statue was shown with cement legs.

Mostafa Waziri, director of Luxor's antiquities, told Ahram Online that the photo of the statue, while real, was from when the statue was restored more than 50 years ago, when using cement in restoration was not prohibited.

Waziri told Ahram Online that the antiquities ministry is now only using safe materials in restoration that never negatively affects monuments.

Waziri asserted that the statue was unearthed inside the temple by a French mission more than a 50 years ago and was restored at that time.

Abdel Naser Ahmed, director of restoration at Karnak Temple, said that three years ago some of the black cement used in the original restored cracked, and that the ministry in collaboration with a French mission filled the cracks, in order to protect the statue.

The statue with rectangular legs