Discovery of headless statue of an unidentified Ptolemaic-era king

(8 May 2010) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of the discovery site
2. Various of workers digging
3. Various of the headless granite statue of an unidentified Ptolemaic-era king
4. Archaeology chief Zahi Hawass inspecting the discovered statue
5. Various of carvings in the ancient Egyptian style on stone
6. Wide of Hawass
7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Zahi Hawass, archaeology chief:
"We found a beautiful statue. Maybe it's one of the most beautiful statues that (was) found dated to the Greek period. The statue is headless, it lost the head, because in the Byzantine time period most of the statues were completely destroyed. All the royal statues that we found in our excavation are without a head, but that statue is made on the Pharonic style completely. It's oversize and I believe it belongs to Batlamous the fourth (King Ptolemy IV), the King who established this temple of Taposiris Magna."
8. Cutaway of Hawass being interviewed
9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Zahi Hawass, archaeology chief:
"This is a sacred place. It connects to Isis and Osiris. Also, in the same time there is no evidence that Cleopatra was buried at all in her tomb that she built next to her palace that now existed under the water. And that could be a typical sacred place for the two lovers to be buried inside."
10. Cutaway of part of site
11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Kathleen Martinez, archaeology team member:
"I want to study the shaft. This is one of my main goals is to study the shaft. And we have a special winching machine we designed and we have are going down 35 metres (115 feet) since last week, and we are expecting there to have important news. It's in the end of the west. You know the west is the location for the wonder world, for the afterlife. So following the symbolisms of ancient Egyptians I think we have developed very important theory and we have important discoveries."
12. Various of Hawass descending into the ruins using a crane
STORYLINE
Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered a headless granite statue of an unidentified Ptolemaic-era king, that is more than 2,000 years old.
An Egyptian-Dominican team made the discovery at the temple of Taposiris Magna, west of the coastal city of Alexandria.
Alexandria was the seat of the Ptolemaic Dynasty, which ruled Egypt for 300 years, until the suicide of Queen Cleopatra.
The statue's height is 53 inches (135 centimetres) and its width at the shoulders is 22 inches (55 centimetres).
"Maybe it's one of the most beautiful statues that (was) found dated to the Greek period," archaeology chief Zahi Hawass said.
Hawass said the statue could belong to King Ptolemy IV and represented the traditional shape of an ancient Egyptian King, wearing collar and kilt.
He added that one of the temple's limestone foundation stones bears traces indicating the entrance was lined with a series of sphinx statues similar to those of the Pharaonic Era.
"Following the symbolisms of ancient Egyptians I think we have developed very important theory and we have important discoveries," archaelogy member Kathleen Martinez said.
The joint mission began its excavation work at Taposiris Magna five years ago in an attempt to locate the tomb of the well-known lovers Queen Cleopatra and Mark Antony, as evidence suggests Cleopatra was not buried inside her tomb, built beside her royal palace, which is now under the eastern harbour of Alexandria.
Taposiris Magna was a temple built in the Greek Period close to Alexandria, and it is dedicated to ancient Egyptian God Osiris.

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