Massive head of pharaoh unearthed in Egypt

CAIRO -- Archaeologists have unearthed the massive head of one Egypt's most famous pharoahs who ruled nearly 3,400 years ago, the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities announced Sunday.

The head of Amenhotep III, which alone is about the height of a person, was found in the ruins of the pharaoh's mortuary temple in the southern city of Luxor.

The Egyptian-European expedition under the guidance of German-Armenian archaeologist Hourig Sourouzian has been excavating the temple near the famous seated colossi of Memnon for the last several years.

The head is part of a larger statue found several years ago and Sourouzian believes its ceremonial beard is still buried somewhere nearby.

Amenhotep III, the grandfather of Tutankhamun, ruled from 1387-1348 B.C. at the height of Egypt's New Kingdom and presided over a vast empire stretching from Nubia in the south to Syria in the north.

His massive mortuary temple, however, was largely destroyed, possible by floods, and little remains of its walls.

The expedition, however, has unearthed a wealth of artifacts and statuary in the buried ruins, including two statues of Amenhotep made of black granite found in March.