The discovery of a pharaonic workshop for the manufacture of statues in southern Egypt

The Egyptian-Swedish archaeological expedition in the Jabal al-Silasila area in Aswan Governorate (south of the country) discovered a pharaonic industrial workshop dating back to the modern state era between the 16th and 11th centuries BC.

The workshop was used to manufacture columns and architectural elements, and was found on huge statues. The Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri said that the monumental workshop includes a huge statue known as the "Graveseniks" (a statue of a ram head and a lion body), about five meters long.

What is the statue of Chrysophynics?
The statue in the Pharaonic workshop is similar to the famous Kryosphinx statue of the Khonsu temple in Karnak. It dates back to the reign of King Amenhotep the Third, the ninth Pharaohs of the 18th Dynasty, and was known for its prosperity and stability.

The statue was not completed. The director general of Aswan and Nubia Antiquities (southern Egypt) Abdel Moneim Said said the statue would have been completed in the discovered workshop, but some conditions may have stopped.

The Joint Mission also found an empty plaque and a small statue of the Cobra snake, which may have been manufactured to be placed on the head of the unfinished statue.

Said explained that the mission also found hundreds of stone crusades, and the writings of Hieroglyphs (ancient pharaonic language).

A mountain chain with quarries and workshops
In turn, the head of the Swedish archaeological mission Maria Nislon said the discovery confirms that the area was not only for quarries, but there are workshops to manufacture various architectural elements also, according to the statement.

From time to time, Egypt has witnessed the discovery of archaeological finds through foreign and Egyptian missions. The country is replete with monuments dating back to the era of the ancient Egyptians who built the pyramids (one of the seven wonders of the world).

The Jebel al-Silsila area, which includes quarries for the ancient Egyptians, is located 65 km north of Aswan and is currently one of the villages of Kom Ombo, an administrative center for Aswan Governorate.

The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities revealed in early February a new archaeological discovery against a number of Pharaonic mummies dating back to the Roman and Ptolemaic and Byzantine times, and belong to officials of the upper and middle classes in the province of Minya, Upper Egypt.