Cairo In-Person Lecture: Good News from Kom el-Hettan

Doors Open at 5:30 PM and close at 6:00 PM (or slightly before as the lecture hall reaches full capacity)

Lecture Information

The talk will be about the recent work in the temple of Amenhotep III by ‘The Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project’ , with the successful results of the Dewatering and the Weeding operations, as well as on preparatory steps taken in view of raising two extraordinary colossal statues of Amenhotep III, exceptionally hewn in Egyptian alabaster, masterpieces of Egyptian sculpture, with surprising artistic and technical features showing the ingenuity of the Egyptian sculptors.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Hourig Sourouzian is an Egyptologist and Art Historian, corresponding Member of the German Archaeological Institute as well as the ICOMOS Armenia. She graduated from the École du Louvre (Paris) and earned her Doctorat d’État (PhD) at the University of Sorbonne-Paris, with Research on Royal Statuary of the 19th Dynasty and a habilitation to teach.

Since 1974, she works in Egypt, participating in archaeological missions in Karnak, Luxor, Dahshur and Tanis. Since 1998, she directs ‘The Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project’ in Luxor – with co-director Dr. Rainer Stadelmann until 2018,  Dr. Dietrich Raue 2022-24 – a project under the auspices of the Ministry of Antiquities of Egypt and the German Archaeological Institute Cairo.

She is specialized in Egyptian Art, particularly Egyptian Sculpture. Thanks to an ARCE/EAF project, she has reassembled a Monumental Statue group of Amon and Mut from Karnak in the Egyptian Museum Cairo (now on display in the Grand Egyptian Museum), and is the author of various statue joins between museums and in temples.

She was guest professor at the American University in Cairo, the Universities of Munich and Vienna, the Collège de France and the Sorbonne in Paris, she also held lectures at Egyptian institutes of major universities and in Egyptian museums on Egyptian Art. Her publication record comprises books, articles and reports on Egyptian art and archaeology, as well as contributions to exhibition catalogues and collective publications. Notable works include the Cairo Museum’s Catalogue with co-author Dr. Mohamed Saleh, and in-depth Studies on the Monuments of King Merenptah and a Catalogue of 19th Dynasty Royal Sculpture.