Archaeologists from Hebrew University in Israel have announced the discovery of an Ancient Egyptian artefact near Lake Tiberias in Israel.
While the find is not yet completely excavated, archaeologists have uncovered a large foot carved in limestone, believed to be part of a statue of an Egyptian ruler.
According to a report in the Jerusalem Post, the foot is 25 cm long and its shape suggests that the statue is of a man in a crouched or seated position, resting on a square base that is engraved with hieroglyphs.
The report says that the rest of the statue is of a full-sized man, and by translating the hieroglyphs, they have learned that he was probably an official. However, so far, there is no evidence of his name.
The site where the statue was found is believed to have been originally a cemetery or a temple, which implies that this statue could have been found in a temple to the Egyptian god Ptah.
Most of the engravings on the statue are words that glorify this man, who is believed to have served as an official in the Ancient Egyptian city of Memphis. The city of Memphis was where people went to worship Ptah. The engravings describe a traditional funeral ritual for the statue, whereby sacrifices were given to honor the man.
The Jerusalem Post reported that this statue is one of the larger artefacts of this kind found in the Middle East since the year 2000. Another statue was found in the same area, this time of the Egyptian king Menkaure who ruled Egypt in the 25th century BC.
The finding of two statues at the same site suggests it was of particular importance during that period of history, probably an administrative palace for the ruler of the city of Hazur, which is considered an important Biblical site.
As the report points out, archaeological digs conducted in the same area about 30 years ago unearthed pieces of 18 Ancient Egyptian royal statues. Among the statues were statues of a Sphinx that was also found the Hazur site.
