#A_granodiorite_statuette

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A granodiorite statuette (only 33 centimeters in height) of King Thutmose III depicted as a sphinx. He reigned circa 1479-1425 BCE during the 18th Dynasty. This piece (JE 37981) is now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, Egypt. Photo: Dallet-Alba / Alamy Stock Photo

The sculpture once stood in the Karnak Temple Complex near Thebes. However, it was discovered in 1903 buried with thousands of statues, stelae, amulets, inlay plaques, votive cubits, and other artifacts in the north court of the seventh pylon of the Great Temple of Amun at Karnak. This is now known as the 'courtyard of the cachette.'

Scholars believe that the hoard was ritually buried by temple priests during the Ptolemaic Period to relieve the crowding of statues and private offerings that have accumulated over the centuries. Most of the objects found date from the New Kingdom through the Ptolemaic Period, although some objects from the Old and Middle Kingdoms were also unearthed.

"Unobtrusive as they may have been individually, the temple statues gradually accumulated over the centuries until they seriously encroached on the space available and got in the way of new building projects. Temple personnel had to accept new statues, yet could not simply discard the older, hallowed dedications. The usual solution was to relegate the older statues to large pits or caches dug beneath the surface of the temple courtyard. Here, although buried and no longer visible to passers by, the ancient statues were at least still within the sacred precincts." ― Wilkinson, Richard H., The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson Inc., New York, USA, 2000.

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