Message #74652

[Josie Linde]

This decorated block was found at the base on which a massive colossus once stood at the second pylon of Amenhotep III's temple complex in Luxor, shown on March 27, 2008.

This portion of the base, from beneath the colossus' right foot, contained a representation of “southern peoples”—inhabitants of the lands south of Egypt—according to Hourig Sourouzian, an archaeologist who is leading excavations at the site.

The representation of foreign peoples was a common motif and an expression of power, Sourouzian said.

“It is a convention that means that everyone is under his feet."