The statue was excavated at the funerary temple of King Amenhotep III on Luxor’s West Bank, a site famous for the Colossi of Memnon, two seated statues of the king that still flank the temple’s entrance. The newly discovered statue, which is 170cm high and 52cm wide, forms part of another colossus of the king, which once stood before the temple’s third gateway. 

In recent years, archaeologists have been piecing together this 14m-high statue from fragments uncovered during excavations. The princess, depicted at a much smaller scale than Amenhotep III, would have stood between her father’s feet.

Princess Iset held the title of Great Royal Wife and was given the epithet, “beloved of her father”. She is one of eight known daughters of Amenhotep III, though the names of only five have been preserved.