LUXOR, EGYPT—Ahram Online reports that 3,000-year-old statues of the lion-headed goddess Sekhmet have been found at the mortuary temple of King Amenhotep III in Luxor. The statues, including three busts and a headless torso, were unearthed in the temple’s hypostyle hall. Mahmoud Afifi, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Department at Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities, explained that in Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet, the daughter of the sun god Re, defended her father against his enemies. Her statues in the temple are thought to have been intended to offer protection from evil and disease to the king. “They are of great artistic quality,” says Hourig Sourouzian, director of the Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project. When the excavation is completed, the statues will be returned to their original settings. To read about another recent discovery in Egypt, go to "The Cult of Amun."