NILE Magazine

Because You Love Ancient Egypt
  • Home
  • DIGITAL EDITION
  • Subscribe
  • Past Issues
  • Free Samples
  • About NILE
  • Home
  • DIGITAL EDITION
  • Subscribe
  • Past Issues
  • Free Samples
  • About NILE

2016 October

Photo: (c) Trustees of the British Museum

Worthy of a selfie!

Jeff Burzacott October 25, 2016

The British Museum's "Sunken Cities" curator, Aurelia Masson-Berghoff, and assistant curator, Daniela Rosenow, capture the moment as a six-tonne statue of the god Hapy is gingerly raised in place.

The colossal statue is one of the centrepieces of the British Museum's blockbuster exhibition, "Sunken Cities: Egypt's Lost Worlds". The exhibition celebrates the discovery of two once-glittering cities that slipped beneath the waves, 1,200 years ago.

One of the cities, Heracleion, took its name from the most famous of Greek heroes, Herakles (Hercules). For a long time it was thought that the city was just as mythical.

The giant statue of Hapy once stood facing the sea outside the Temple of Amun-Gereb, which occupied the central island of Heracleion. When the statue was discovered in 2001, broken into pieces, the fragments were first assembled on the sea bed to check they had found all of the surviving pieces.

Hapy's statue is so tall (5.4 metres) that part of the ceiling of the British Museum's exhibition space had to be dismantled to allow the statue's safe installation. This statue of Hapy is the tallest ever discovered of any Egyptian god. He squeezed in with just 40 cm to spare.

Enjoy the full article in the current issue of Nile Magazine. Subscribe to the print or digital editions from the Subscribe page. Enjoy your Nile time!

  • 2016 October
  • Older
  • Newer
Satisfy your passion for ancient Egypt.NILE Magazine June-July 2017 is out now. Inside:- The Tomb-1000 years of robbery and reuse.- Egypt's first ever funerary garden discovered.- World Museum's new ancient Egypt gallery.- Art and Archaeol…

Satisfy your passion for ancient Egypt.
NILE Magazine June-July 2017 is out now. Inside:
- The Tomb-1000 years of robbery and reuse.
- Egypt's first ever funerary garden discovered.
- World Museum's new ancient Egypt gallery.
- Art and Archaeology meet: the two worlds of Susan Osgood.
- The Royal Tombs of Ancient Egypt.
- Aswan's powerful governors.
- On This Day in Egyptology history.
- Plus much more.

Click on the cover to subscribe.

Featured
Mar 25, 2017
Dark, isn't it? Happy Earth Hour!
Mar 25, 2017

I love that we know the Great Sphinx so well, we can pick it from just the silhouette.

Read More →
Mar 25, 2017
Mar 24, 2017
Intact Middle Kingdom tomb discovered in Aswan
Mar 24, 2017

Shemai was the younger brother of Sarenput II, the powerful governor of Elephantine.

Read More →
Mar 24, 2017
Mar 4, 2017
The Dream Stela restored
Mar 4, 2017

The Ministry of Antiquities is working to preserve Thutmose IV's fanciful story.

Read More →
Mar 4, 2017
  • Contact NILE
  • Index
  • Write for Nile
  • Join The Team
  • FAQs
  • Societies & Clubs

All rights reserved © Nile Magazine 2024

NILE Magazine

Because You Love Ancient Egypt