Science / Medicine : Ancient Figurine in Mint Condition

Archeologists have unearthed an exquisitely carved limestone figurine of an overseer who lived 4,400 years ago, a statuette hailed as one of the finest yet in the area of the pyramids.

“To think such a statue could have survived the ages so well is unimaginable. It looks like it was carved five minutes ago,” said Zahi Hawass, the antiquities official in charge of the pyramids area.

Excavators uncovered the statue, eight inches tall and two inches wide, while digging in a basin near the Sphinx. It was in a simple tomb in a cemetery for foremen and craftsmen who built monuments for the pharaohs. The sculptor carved the statue’s upper lip in the shape of adjacent pyramids.

The lifelike statue shows a man decked out in finery in the classic pose of a pharaoh, strolling with power and grace. Many of the original colors still glow. There are traces of a blue collar. The kilt is white, the skin reddish brown with black touches representing makeup. The plaited wig is black.

The team has been digging in sand dunes a few miles south of the Sphinx since August, 1990, when a horse ridden by an American tourist fell through the sand and hit an unknown tomb.