Buried for nearly 3,600 years, a rare statue of Egypt's King Neferhotep has been brought to light in the ruins of Thebes by a team of French archaeologists.

Archeologists unearthed the 1.8 metre (six foot) tall statue, as they were carrying out repairs around Karnak Temple in the southern city of Luxor, Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass told reporters.

Francois Larche, one of the team that found the limestone statue of the king, whose name means "beautiful and good", said it was lying about 1.6 metres below ground near an obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut, the only woman to have reigned as a Pharoah in Egypt, ruling from 1504-1484 BC.

The statue shows the king wearing a funeral mask and royal head cloth or nemes.

The forehead bears an emblem of a cobra, which ancient Egyptians used as a symbol on the crown of the Pharaohs.

Neferhotep was the 22nd king of the 13th Dynasty. The son of a temple priest in Abydos, he ruled Egypt from 1696-1686 BC.

Experts believe his father's position helped him to ascend the throne, as there was no royal blood in his family.

Source: AFP