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Minister of Antiquities Dr. Mamdouh Eldamaty declared the discovery of the lower part of a royal statue carved with the name of King "Sahure", second of the fifth Dynasty Kings of the Old Kingdom.
The discovery was made during the excavation works performed by the "Royal Art Museum" Belgian Mission working at Elkab Area, northern Edfu – Aswan Governorate. The statue, executed in fine-grained sandstone, undoubtedly represents the king seated on a throne. Its original height can be estimated at about 70 cm.
As Dr. Eldamaty clarifies, the importance of this discovery lie in the rarity of the King's statues (only two Sahure statues are known; one of them is shown at the Metropolitan Museum – USA while the other is displayed at the Egyptian Museum – Cairo).
From his side, Head of the Ancient Egyptian Sector Chargé d'affaires Dr. Mahmoud Afify commented that the Belgian Mission, headed by Dr. Dirk Huyge started its archaeological excavation works in 2009 adding that this region (Elkab) carry a very important value in the Egyptian History because it was the capital of Upper Egypt during Pre History and was the capital of the third Nome until the Ptolemaic Age.
General Director of Aswan and Nubia Archaeological Area added that Elkab lies on the east bank of the River Nile and combines a lot of the rock cut noble tombs that date back to the New Kingdom.
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