Summary

• The Karnak Cachette, a significant archaeological find in Luxor, Egypt, unearthed by Georges Legrain, contained over 700 stone statues and 17,000 bronze artifacts dating from various periods of ancient Egypt—Old, Middle, New Kingdoms, and the Ptolemaic era.
• Legrain, a French Egyptologist, dedicated his career to Egyptology, making numerous discoveries and leading restoration efforts at Karnak. His work revolutionized the understanding of ancient Egyptian civilization, although he passed away in 1917.
• The cache held royal statues, sculptures of priests, and diverse artifacts offering insights into religious practices, family lineages, and artistic evolution across different periods. It significantly enriched our understanding of Egyptian civilization.
• The artifacts found in the Karnak Cachette were distributed across various museums worldwide, becoming ambassadors of ancient Egypt. Pieces ended up in museums in Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, and Alexandria, as well as international museums like the Met Museum, British Museum, and more.
• The discoveries from the Karnak Cachette continue to impact our understanding of ancient Egypt, celebrated through exhibitions and tours, inviting enthusiasts to explore and experience the glory of Egypt’s history.

Karnak Cachette was one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in the history of Egypt and in the golden city of Thebes known today as Luxor. In its celestial royal land rose some of the most beautiful collections of artifacts and monuments that convey some of the most magnificent collections of stories and facts about the magical treasures of the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt (2700 – 2200 BC), Middle Kingdom of ancient Egypt (1782 – 2040 BC), and New Kingdom Period of ancient Egypt (1550 – 1070 BC) plus even the Ptolemaic period. This magnificent bit that was discovered in the early days of the 20th century by a French Egyptologist led to the rise of many profound understandings about the evolution and innovation of the ethereal ancient Egyptian civilization.

Georges Legrain: Who Discovered The Cachette

Georges Legrain was born in 1865 in Paris, where he developed an interest in Egyptology at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he studied from 1883 to 1890 and in the Sorbonne under famous Egyptologists like Gaston Maspero; then he went on a magical quest to Egypt in 1892. In the same year, He went on to join the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology as an archaeological draftsman and an illustrator and worked alongside J. De Morgan in excavations. He was hired as Inspector-Artist of the Service of Antiquities, then as director of works at Karnak in 1895 because of his prowess and high intelligence.

While being in Karnak, he unveiled many hidden temples and numerous artifacts. He worked on restoring the great Hypostyle hall in Karnak, where he made a lot of restoration efforts by using innovative methods to handle the colossal stones. He remained dedicated to Karnak until 1915 when the outbreak of World War I paused the work. He was appointed as inspector of Upper Egypt, where he oversaw projects safeguarding Luxor temple from floods. While overseeing these protective measures, he fell ill suddenly and passed away on August 22, 1917. His legacy persists through the extensive restoration and discoveries made at Karnak during his tenure.

The Excavation of Karnak Cachette

In 1903, A major discovery was made by Georges Legrain (French Egyptologist)in the north-west section of the courtyard of the temple of Amun in front of the seventh Pylon at the Karnak temple, which holds many amazing architectural designs and elements dating back to the middle, new, and Ptolemaic kingdoms and considered to be Egyptian statue hoard ever recorded.

For more than four years, he dug despite the hard condition of the land because of the infiltrations from the water table until he discovered a cache containing more than seven hundred stone statuses and 17000 made from bronze, most of which ended up in the Egyptian Museum and other museums around the world, most of the statues dates back to the New Kingdom of Egypt to the end of the Ptolemaic era.

The discovery contained from the Old Kingdom of Egypt, the lower part of a striding statue of the 5th Dynasty King Niuserre, and from the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, the royal statues of Senusret I, Senusret III, and Amenemhet III. The Cachette represents a significant source of information on how the priests of Karnak performed various rituals and functions, and this find sheds light on the history of the artistic wave of many periods.

The list contains every detail about the objects made by Legrain, but it vanished after his death. For many years, it was impossible to identify the various artifacts found at the cachette, but in 2006, a joint project between the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt and Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale created a database containing every possible detail about the Karnak cachette and even in 2012, a web database was available online giving 8000 photos of the excavation taken by Legrain himself.

Statues Of Karnak Cachette

There were some statues, beyond royal Sculptures, that belonged to Karnak’s priests from the New Kingdom to the Ptolemaic period. This cache offers valuable insights into the clergy and the evolution of local religious practices. It allows for the reconstruction of Theban family lineages across generations. The cache significantly contributes to art history, showcasing diverse sculptural styles and numerous smaller objects like stelae, inlay plaques, amulets, and votive cubits discovered by Legrain during the excavations.

The Karnak Cachette enriches our understanding of Egyptian civilization and its global impact, and that’s why in 2004, a significant exhibition in Grenoble and Cairo celebrated the centennial of the cache’s discovery, displaying nearly 25 previously unpublished masterpieces unearthed by Legrain, which continuously rejuvenated our knowledge of ancient Egypt. Some of the most famous statues of Karnak Cachette discovered include:

• Statuette of Amun carried on a veiled bark.
• A rare preserved bronze statue of Osiris
• Stela depicts the Hathor cow in papyrus.
• The seated Cynocephalus statue.
• The statue of Cynocephalus is seated on a platform with five steps.
• Block statue of a Theban priest of the Ptolemaic Period, called Irethorru.
• Stela with a representation of the Hathor cow in the papyrus dedicated by Pa-ka and Ta-neferet.
• The block statue is of a Theban priest of the Ptolemaic Period called Irethorru.
• Seated statue of Neferhotep II Mersekhemre.
• block statue of Iahmes, son of Pakharkhons
• Ptolemaic statue of a priest.
• Statue of Djedkhonsiuefankh.
• Buried Statues Which Became Ambassadors Of Karnak In Egypt And Worldwide.

Karnak Cachette Artifacts Which Became Ambassadors Of Karnak In Egypt And Worldwide

The majority of items discovered in the Karnak Cachette found their home in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. However, as provincial museums emerged in Egypt, some pieces were relocated to Luxor, Aswan, Alexandria, and other cities in Egypt. The influence of these findings stretches far beyond Egypt as they become a form of Ambassadors for the civilization of ancient Egypt.

Georges Legrain and G. Maspero gifted pieces to esteemed guests; some were sold, and others ended up in the hands of art dealers, evading official supervision. Numerous museums worldwide now boast artifacts from the Karnak Cachette. Notable collections include those at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum in New York, the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, and the British Museum in London.