A big statue of King Amenhotep III has been discovered by an Egyptian-German archeological mission in Luxor, said an Egyptian official on Friday 21/2/2008.

The mission succeeded in collecting 100 pieces of another statue of Amenhotep III, Luxor Antiquities Director Mansour Borayek said.

Led by Egyptologist Horig Sourouzian, the mission unearthed two heads of Sphinx in addition to seven statues of goddess Sekhmet on the western bank in Luxor, he added.

In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet was originally the warrior goddess of Upper Egypt.

She is depicted as a lioness. Amenhotep III was the ninth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty.

He was the son of Thutmose IV by Mutemwia, a minor wife of Amenhotep's father.