New Light on the Egyptian Labyrinth: Evidence from a Survey at Hawara *

Hawara in the Fayum is known to be the site of the Egyptian Labyrinth. Only scanty remains are left of this temple which was part of the pyramid complex of Amenemhat III. Despite drastic interventions such as the construction of a canal and numerous scientific as well as illicit excavations, new evidence on the Labyrinth was found during a survey by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) in March 2000. Two Middle Kingdom sculptures that probably can be identified as statues mentioned by Lepsius in 1843 have been located in the western sector of the Labyrinth. A group statue possibly representing Amenemhat III both as a Fayum god and as a king, and a mummiform statue of the deified pharaoh fit within the sculptural programme of the temple of Amenemhat.