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Hourig Sourouzian

The Colossi of Memnon, two lonely sentinels, sadly weathered but extremely impressive have greeted visitors to the Theban necropolis since Roman times. Today, if we look beyond the seated monoliths a temple can be seen progressively re-emerging from what, to an unprofessional eye, earlier appeared as no more than slight elevations and depressions in the packed earth. In this age of advanced technology, what is officially known as The Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project,  simply “Memnon/Amenhotep III Project”, under the auspices of the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo and the Supreme Council of Antiquities, is casting light on a great monument that was swept away soon after its completion. “I feel wonderfully privileged to be working on this project in spite of the difficulties of our task” Egyptologist, art historian and project director Hourig Sourouzian tells Jill Kamil

Salvage archaeology on the Theban necropolis 

Summer is over. A new archaeological season is under way and of the many missions, local and international, commencing work at Luxor, The Memnon/Amenhotep III Project is unquestionably the most extraordinary because, in Sourouzian’s words, “whereas in other monuments we are in presence of walls, sometimes even ceilings, but nothing from the temple furniture remains – no statues, stelae , altars, etc – what we have at this site is exactly the opposite; parts of the equipment and remains of statues survive and their  positions give us a clue to the locations of pylons and walls that are no longer there”.  

It is assumed that the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III (1387-1348 BC) was totally swept away by a particularly high flood, an earthquake, or maybe even due to unstable ground, some time after its completion. All that remained were collapsed pylons, walls, columns and statues, some of which were reused by later pharaohs for their own temples, or collected by modern travelers, adventurers, explorers and scholars for private collections or museums. The ruin was subsequently obscured – all, that is, but for the seated colossi, the solitary relics of the pharaoh’s Golden Era and, a quarter of a mile to the rear, a sandstone stelae inscribed with a dedicatory text.  

The magnitude of this ancient catastrophe is best assessed by placing its construction in historical context. Amenhotep III reaped the benefits of the conquests of his predecessors and Thebes was at the peak of its glory during his long rule. With economic conditions sound, wealth pouring in from the distant reaches of the Egyptian empire which extended through almost all of Western Asia including Palestine, Syria, Phoenicia, the western part of the Euphrates, Nubia, Kush (Sudan) and Libya, temples were bursting with tributes and the pharaoh imbued and embellished them with new life. He also constructed new ones, entrusting his own mortuary temple in the capable hands of   his chief architect  Amenhotep son of Hapu.  

“Kom el-Hettan (as this location on the Theban necropolis is known) has been subjected to several archaeological campaigns in the past, but it has never been systematically excavated and mapped,” said Sourouzian. “Blocks, stelae and columns were dug up by early archaeologists, but no provision was made for their conservation. In 1989 it was feared that the Colossi of Memnon were tilting markedly to the south and the following year, at the request of the SCA, a photogrammatic survey of the seated statues was carried by R. Stadelmann, then director of the German Archaeological Institute. It was reassuring to note that the statues were not under threat of collapse as was feared. However, some years later, in the temple proper, a devastating fire erupted in the area of the Peristyle Court.” 

We were in Sourouzian’s apartment in Zamalek, one of those large 1930’s buildings with ancient lifts, lofty ceilings and thick walls. I had suggested we meet at the German Institute but she recommended her home, “where I have all my material”. She met me at the door and guided me into an enormously long room which proved to be three adjacent rooms whose connecting walls had been knocked down. “That’s Rainer’s work area over there,” she said pointing to the far end of the room where her husband, Egyptologist Rainer Stadelmann, had a well-organized space near the window.  “This is mine,” she said as she lead me to the centre of the room in which glass doors lead onto the narrow balcony.  

I took a quick look around and noted how cleverly the work spaces have been arranged. Each has its own book cases, desks, folders, files, lamps, and the technological paraphernalia that goes into research. Yet they flow into one another through the ingenious placement of paintings, statues, and antique clocks. “Rainer loves clocks”, she explained as she noted me counting them.  “Where would you like to sit?” I turned to the small sitting area near a fireplace at one end of the elongated room which gave the marked impression of never having been used. She ordered refreshments and had no sooner sat down than she launched into the subject of her interest, exuding a great love for Egypt and her chosen field of specialization.  

“No archaeological missions, apart from some spasmodic interventions by the SCA, had worked within the temple proper for decades,” she said, “and with the irrigation of the surrounding fields, salt from subterranean water, vegetation, and fire, the last remains of the great mortuary temple of Amenhotep III was under threat of total destruction. Our project started shortly after a local catastrophic incident: a devastating fire caused either because of dryness or because farmers had tried to curtail with fire the growth of halfa grass, a sturdy weed, extremely difficult to control. It  springs up as quickly as it can be cut down making it almost impossible to excavate when it is around. Fire’s are not unusual on the necropolis, but the last one was the most alarming.”  

She opened a photograph album that she had lifted from her desk.   “See how some of  the  beautifully-inscribed stones had split from the heat,” she said, pointing to blocks from the collapsed temple remains lying in the mud. “Reliefs were destroyed and serious damage was caused from the heat and dense smoke. Other methods to curb the growth of the weed, like chemicals, would have had a disastrous effect on the monuments not, to mention agriculture. So there is no easy solution to the problem. Moreover, the higher average water-table is another constant problem, damaging whatever remains of the monument through seepage and salt erosion and  causing progressive deterioration. We realized that this temple had to be saved, and  a rescue operation of great magnitude was called for”.  

Sourouzian, a woman of action, shared her concern with her Egyptian colleagues. “In 1997, with the backing of Prof Gaballa A Gaballa and Sabry Abdel Aziz, we applied for emergency conservation to the SCA. A year later, the site of Kom el-Hettan was included in the list of the world’s 100 most endangered monuments by the World Monuments Watch, and, with a grant by the World Monuments Fund, we started emergency conservation”. 

I have known Hourig Sourouzian for many years. I  have attended her lectures, seen her at work at Thebes, and met her socially. She is a polyglot, fluent in her native Armenian, French, English, German and Arabic. Congenial by nature and always well turned-out, whether for field work or socializing, she expresses herself passionately. I have always been enchanted with this good-looking, dynamic woman who talks with authority, radiates well-being and seemed, on this occasion, anxious to get on with what she wanted to say. 

“In 1998-99 a multi-national team was formed to start emergency work and draw up a long-term project and in 2000 we embarked on a really ambitious plan to produce a detailed archaeological and topographical study of the area in the form of maps. Our aim is to preserve whatever we can of the entire temple complex, stabilize and conserve its remains as much as possible, build an on-site museum, move tourist buses a safe distance away, and prepare a touristic circuit to present the temple with dignity to the visitors.” She spoke in a quiet yet assertive manner, much as she did when giving a lecture, maintaining my attention as she invariably did her audience in a lecture hall.  “For any conservation plan, first step is a full documentation”, she explained, “for which it is necessary to excavate and identify all remains, as well as the locations of the disappeared pylons of the temple and other architectural elements. We lifted statues, or parts of them, out of the accumulated mud, cleaned and placed them out of harm’s way”. 

To create something out of nothing seemed like a daunting task, and when I mentioned this Sourouzian explained that the earlier stage of documentation is to observe. “You have to identify the fragmented remains, record the state of conservation, note anomalies; for example, we recognized that what might appear as a shapeless block of stone was a seated colossus that had fallen on its flank, or a quartzite stone might be a part of a statue. We also looked for monuments seen in the past and not longer visible on the site”. She described a monumental alabaster statue of a hippopotamus as an example.  

“A hippo sculpture had been noted, but never documented, during excavations over thirty years ago. It was then noticed that the head and tail were missing. We set out in search of this unique statue from the beginning of our investigations. When we finally rediscovered it  in the saline water we had to use pumps to uncover it and it proved to be 1.34 m high, 1.80 m long and 0.79 m wide. After having it mapped and drawn, we pulled the hippopotamus out of the water by winch, and transported it on a specially fabricated sledge into the laboratory where it was cleaned and treated by conservators”. The statue was eventually put on display with other statues for a visit by a committee presided over by the minister of culture and the chairman of the SCA, as well as members of the Association des Amis des Colosses de Memnon, on March 21, 2004.  

 “Last year,” Sourouzian said, “our mission concentrated on lifting the  huge torso of the northern colossus of the Second Pylon of the temple with the help of air cushions. That was no easy task!”  The colossus, I learn, weighed 450 tons and with the help of the air bags it was raised first to a height of nearly two metres above the level where it had fallen, and then by another 3.12 metres, thus raising it above the ground water level onto an island of gravel and sand. “Decorated parts of the colossus were treated by a conservation team, and on completion of the work, the whole thing was wrapped in fabric to prevent the action of sun, salt and vandalism over the holiday season. We also resumed conservation work on numerous statue fragments found scattered around the site….” 

I cut her short. How could massive stones of many tons be lifted with air bags I ask.   “They are made of a very strong plastic material, re-enforced from the inside with stainless steel and aramide strings,” she assured me. “Before installing a cushion, a pocket is carefully excavated under the edge of the statue, and a solid foundation is prepared consisting of a layer of gravel, sand and then wooden planks. On this we place the flat cushion, surmounted by cylindrical bags filled with sand to protect the stone and to fill in some gaps on the stone surface. Practical experience showed us that the best results are obtained by inflating each cushion to a height of 20cms, and for a double cushion, a maximum height of 40cms”.  

It all sounded very technical and difficult to picture, until Sourouzian opened up her Preliminary Report on the Memnon/Amenhotep III Project  for the November 18 to December 16, 2004 season. There I glanced at a series of colour photographs which brought the whole exciting and successful procedure to life. Fourteen cushions were placed on different sides of the colossus to achieve the result.  

Sourouzian speaks with the royal “we” while it is in fact she herself who directs the whole project with a large team of specialists and workers under her control: Egyptologists, archaeologists, conservators, stone-masons, a biologist, geologist, photographers, archivists and the part-time assistance of specialists in epigraphy, geophysik, geotechnik and pottery.   

“We have 30 scientific team members of 12 nationalities,  all under the auspices of SCA and supervised by Egyptian inspectors,” she said. “And we have finer conservation methods today then archaeologists had 30 years ago. To properly document an archaeological site, to systematically map the whole area and record all that remains above and below ground, we carried out resistivity and magnetrometric surveys to define the limits of the temple precincts and in search of architectural remains. The results of our surveys are entered into our project’s  constantly growing database.”   

“Are you assured of continued funds for what you envision?” I ask.  She leaned back in her chair, smiled broadly and said, “We have to work hard, and continuously, for fund raising you know. We have become professional application-writers for resources. We could not remain indifferent to the progressive destruction of this very prestigious and huge temple so we applied to the World Monuments Watch, and gained an important grant from the World Monuments Fund with positive results. 

 Sourouzian explained that a high level committee of potential subscribers was drawn up “and our project gained a generous donation by Madame Monique  Hennessy through Association des Amis des Colosses de Memnon, the continuous efforts of Monsieur Fouquet , vice-president of the association, and lately, Förderverein Memnon founded by Dr. Ursula Lewenton, gave us a generous donation of equipment to lift colossal statuary”. She paused, smiled, and added with obvious pride, “The Memnon/Amenhotep III Project was selected again last year, 2004, by the same World Monuments Watch, and thanks to the  grants of Robert W. Wilson’s ‘Challenge to Conserve our Heritage’, Jack A. Josephson, a supporter of the World Monuments Fund, and an additional grant by the ARCE/AEF, we have been able to move ahead with our emergency conservation and plans for a dewatering project.” 

Aware of how difficult it is to raise funds for excavation and conservation, and there being no way to proceed without it, I sympathized with Sourouzian’s need to give credit where credit was due, especially when she added:  “Many people have supported our work; we are particularly grateful for the enthusiastic and constant support of the minister of culture, Farouk Hosni, and the chairman of the SCA, Zahi Hawass, who both visit our site regularly and follow the progress of our work”.  

Only when the servant brought glasses of freshly squeezed and chilled orange juice, did I have the opportunity to change the topic of conversation.  As the tray of drinks was placed on the table I reminded Sourouzian that the first time we met, at the German Archaeological Institute, I thought she was an Egyptian. Her colouring, exotic features and command of Arabic suggested this. Her accent and intonation deceived me. Only much later did I learn that she was Armenian.   I asked her about her background. “My father’s family was massacred by the Turks in 1915,” she said. “He was the only survivor and was taken to a Syrian orphanage where he met the daughter of another survivor who had married and had children there… It’s all very sad and complicated. All Armenians of the diaspora are born ‘somewhere else’. I was actually born in Baghdad,” she added, and seemed peculiarly disinclined to continue along this path. Her ancestry and the loss of her country was a sorrowful matter. So I changed the subject again and asked her about her academic credentials.  

She gives me a wide smile and then, rather than waste time giving me details, goes to her desk and returns with her CV which she hands to me. At a glance I see that she studied Egyptology and art history in the Louvre and has a PhD from the University of Paris-Sorbonne . “As for my Arabic”, she said, “I studied classical Arabic at the École des Langues Orientales in Paris, it is a language which I like very much”. 

Unlike the majority of Egyptologists who were philologists and archaeologists principally interested in ancient texts, literature, history, religion, Sourouzian decided to be an art historian as well as an Egyptologist. “I studied its development from the First Dynasty art until the end of artistic production. Few care about pure Pharaonic art,” she said. “I experienced a new field with thorough research on statuary. Egyptology brought me to Egypt. I studied the statuary of Ramesses II and carried out research in all the temples and storerooms, identifying parts of statues in one museum which could be matched with complementary parts in another.  I observed that much of the royal statuary of the 19^th Dynasty was from earlier periods. It was a challenge to trace, through artistic characteristics of  certain periods, whether a monument was a reused work of art from the Middle Kingdom, or whether it was original”. For example, I could demonstrate that the pair of red granite standing royal colossi at Mit Rahina are original works of Sesostris I from the Middle Kingdom, which were later inscribed and reused by Ramesses II. 

She went on to explain that the sculptors who fashioned the works of art sometimes  perpetuated stylistic tendencies of earlier reigns. “To accurately date a monument, the style and iconography as well as technique, texture and artistic quality of the statue must be considered, not to mention the stone used. It has to be compared with well-dated statues. From facial features, the anatomy, costume, crown, uraeus… you can tell whether the statue has the transformed features of Middle Kingdom statuary, or has been refashioned completely – a good eye can identify them,” she added with a rare show of pride.  

“There appears to have  been a school of artisans working near the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III who created a new  type of sculpture in his reign  in which facial features were reduced to a few stylized  details. The king's long narrow eyes, for example, are framed by a large cosmetic band in low relief, his brows are slightly turned and his sensuous lips are encircled by a sharp ridge. His elegant statues and sphinxes anticipate the sculpture of the so-called Amarna period. The fine head of the Pharaoh in the Luxor Museum which was excavated by the late Egyptologist Labib Habachi in the mid 1950s, is a fine example of this period, as is its parallel found by our team”.   

I ask the reason for the reuse of statues by later pharaohs; was it simply because they were readily available? She tells me that some abandoned statues were reused to revive the cult attached to the monument “as an act of piety, a receptacle for offerings”. “You can imagine that such powerful rulers as Ramesses II had all the quarries of Egypt and all royal workshops at their convenience. Why would they bother reusing an earlier work if it is not for the sake of renewing its cult and saving it from destruction”. 

When Sourouzian collects fragments of statues, she sorts them out, identifies their characteristics, and eventually matches  pieces together in order to reconstruct a statue. I suggest that was somewhat like doing a jig-saw puzzle. She dismisses the suggestion,  “this is three-dimentional,” she explains. “You know which pieces fit together from long study, experience, a sense of touch, eye, and knowledge of your subject. Anyway”, she adds, “I never did puzzles as a child, I rather played building houses in wood or solved logic problems and games in the newspapers of my parents. ” Then, without pausing she said that rebuilding a statue entails problems of logic and intellect. “Each piece placed in position is a piece of art saved from oblivion, one piece less on a shelf or in the ground, to be lost and forgotten”.  

What are the most exciting aspects of your work I ask, and she responds: “All stages are exciting, but one of my most thrilling moments was when I discovered the statue of Queen Tiye, the wife of Amenhotep III, lying on her side in the mud near the Second Pylon beneath the collapsed colossus of the pharaoh. When  I saw her face and legs my breath stopped!”  The queen once stood to the right of the pharaoh’s throne and her statue including the crown and feathers, measures 3.25m in height.  “As we progressed with the excavation of this extraordinarily beautiful statue, of high artistic quality, water had constantly to be pumped out of the ground…”  

I learn that plans for the present 2005/2006 archaeological season include the task of dewatering the temple precinct starting the area of the Peristyle Court, where trial trenches have been carried out in preparation of the project.  Underground water remains a serious problem, and any comprehensive site management plan or long term conservation such as the present project will fail so long as the site continues to be threatened by water seepage, salt, repeated growth of vegetation, fire, and bacterial damage. “Once the Peristyle Court is completely excavated, mapped and conserved, it will be the first part of the temple prepared for visitors, with a space reserved for statuary in a kind of a modern open air museum”. 

 The doorbell rang. Al-Ahram Weekly photographer Sherif Sonbol joined us, and suddenly and unexpectedly I find Sourouzian, shy. As Sonbol moves her around the room to put her in a favourable light, she says: “Look at what I do, not at what I look like!”  

Hourig Sourouzian and her German husband Rainer Stadelmann, retired director of the German Archaeological Institute, share a passion for Egyptian Archaeology and Art History. “Although we have different specializations, we like to work together. For example I participated in his excavations at the pyramids of Dahshur, and now he joins my work at Kom El-Hettan ”.  

Here are partners in life, and partners in Egyptology, a dynamic pair. Today, however, while Rainer Stadelmann devotes his time to research and publication, Hourig Sourouzian directs the massive project known as The Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project. It is certainly in capable hands.