LUXOR, Egypt (AP) — Egypt on Sunday unveiled the renovation of two colossal statues of a prominent pharaoh in the southern city of Luxor, the latest in a series of government archaeological events aimed at attracting more tourists to the country.

The giant alabaster statues, known as the Colossi of Memnon, were reassembled in a renovation project that lasted about two decades. They represent Amenhotep III, who ruled ancient Egypt about 3,400 years ago.

“Today we are celebrating, in fact, the completion and erection of these two colossal statues,” Mohamed Ismail, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, told The Associated Press before the ceremony.

Attempts to revive prestigious temple

Ismail said the colossi are of great importance to Luxor, a city known for its ancient temples and other antiquities. They are also an attempt to “revive what this funerary temple of King Amenhotep III looked like a long time ago,” Ismail said.

Amenhotep III, one of the most prominent pharaohs, ruled during the New Kingdom, a 500-year era that was the most prosperous for ancient Egypt. The pharaoh, whose mummy is on display in a museum in Cairo, ruled from 1390 to 1353 BC, a peaceful period known for its prosperity and great buildings, including his mortuary temple, home to the Colossi of Memnon, and another temple, Soleb, in Nubia.

The colossi were toppled by a strong earthquake around the year 1200 BC. which also destroyed the funerary temple of Amenhotep III, said Mohamed Ismail, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

They were fragmented and partly extracted, with their pedestals scattered. Some of its blocks were reused in the Karnak temple, but archaeologists brought them back to reconstruct the colossi, according to the Ministry of Antiquities.

In the late 1990s, an Egyptian-German mission, chaired by German Egyptologist Hourig Sourouzian, began work on the temple area, including the assembly and renovation of the colossi.

“This project has in mind...saving the last remains of a once prestigious temple,” Sourouzian said.

A pharaoh facing the rising sun

The statues show Amenhotep III seated with his hands resting on his thighs, with his faces facing east, towards the Nile and the rising sun. They wear the nemes headdress surmounted by double crowns and the pleated royal kilt, which symbolizes the pharaoh's divine rule.

Two other small statues at the pharaoh's feet represent his wife, Tiye.

The colossi—14.5 meters (48 feet) and 13.6 meters (45 feet) respectively—preside over the entrance to the king's temple on the west bank of the Nile. It is believed that the The 35-hectare (86-acre) complex is the largest and richest temple in Egypt and is often compared to the temple of Karnak, also in Luxor.

The colossi were carved from Egyptian alabaster from the quarries of Hatnub in Middle Egypt. They were fixed on large pedestals with inscriptions showing the name of the temple, as well as the quarry.

Unlike other monumental sculptures from ancient Egypt, the colossi were partly compiled from separately sculpted pieces, which were fixed to the main monolithic alabaster core of each statue, the ministry said.

Eye on tourism

Sunday's opening in Luxor came just six weeks after the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, the centerpiece of the government's attempt to boost the country's tourism industry and bring money into the economy. The megaproject is located near the famous Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx.

The tourism sector, which relies heavily on Egypt's rich pharaonic artifacts, has suffered for years from political turmoil and violence following the 2011 uprising. In recent years, the sector has begun to recover after the coronavirus pandemic and amid Russia's war in Ukraine, both countries are major sources of tourists visiting Egypt. “This site will be a point of interest for years to come,” said Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy, who attended the opening ceremony. “There are always new things happening in Luxor.”

A record number of about 15.7 million tourists visited Egypt in 2024, contributing about 8% of the country's GDP, according to official figures.

Fathy, the minister, has said that around 18 million tourists are expected to visit the country this year, with authorities expecting 30 million visitors annually by 2032.

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Magdy reported from The Cairo.

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This story was translated from English by an AP editor using a generative artificial intelligence tool.