The statue of pharaoh Neferhotep was discovered at Karnak Temple on the outskirts of Luxor, 720 kilometres south of Cairo.

    At a news conference, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Zahi Hawwas said a Franco-Egyptian excavation team had succeeded in unearthing the artifact. It was found beneath the ground near an obelisk of famed Queen Hatshepsut.

    Hawas said he decided to form a team of archaeological experts to decide whether to dig out the limestone statue or leave it where it was for fear its removal could affect the obelisk.

    Neferhotep I was the 22nd king of the 13th Dynasty. He ruled Egypt from 1696 till 1686 BC.

    He was the son of a temple Priest in Abydos. His father’s position helped him to gain the royal image as the king because he did not have any royal blood in his family.

    An earlier statue of Neferhotep was found in Karnak in 1904 and is currently in the Egyptian museum in Cairo.