Luxor Museum

Luxor Museum Review

The Luxor Museum contains, without a doubt, the crème de la crème of New Kingdom sculpture. On three floors, objects ranging from the Predynastic to Coptic periods are displayed in a soothing atmosphere. Each object has its own space, affording it the attention it deserves. Descriptions of artifacts are thorough and accurate.

The ground floor has several masterpieces. The statue of Thutmose III (18th Dynasty) in green schist of rare quality emits pharaonic inner peace and transcendence. The calcite statue of Sobek with Amenhotep III is also exceptional, both for its workmanship and its rather unusual subject—there are very few representations of the god Sobek offering life to a pharaoh. Colored reliefs, a sphinx, a scribe, and other royal statues are also superb.

On the first floor are Greco-Roman bronzes, a wooden maquette of a boat of Tutankhamun (18th Dynasty), papyri, royal statues, a sarcophagus, and other objects. At the end of the hall, in the first part of the first floor, is a statue of the famous architect Amenhotep, son of Hapu, who served under Amenhotep III and had his own funerary temple in the West Bank. A little variation in style is offered with the two sculptures representing the head of the heretic pharaoh Akhenaton (18th Dynasty); they are a good example of the Amarna style (Akhenaton ruled from Tel el Amarna).

Back on the ground floor, a room to the left of the entrance is dedicated to the 16 New Kingdom statues found in 1989 in the cachette of the Solar Court of Amenhotep III in Luxor Temple. These were hidden to protect them from destruction by later rulers.