CAIRO, June 6 (Xinhuanet) -- The recently discovered 3,600-year-old statue of Pharaoh Neferhotep I will be left in its current place for fear that it could disintegrate on removal, the Egyptian Gazette daily reported Monday.

    Egyptian-French Committee working on the development of Karnak Temple has made the decision after the statue was discovered beneath the Obelisk of Hatshepsut in Karnak Temple relic in Luxor, 720 km south of Cairo.

    Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities(SCA) Zahi Hawas said an exhibition will be established at the statue's site to highlight its importance to visitors.

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

    His father's position helped him gain the power because he did not have any royal blood in his family.

    Another statue of Neferhotep I was found in Karnak in 1904 and is currently in Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

    "This is very important because we actually have very little to know about the 13th Dynasty," Hawas said, adding "the statue shows a very high quality of craft and art." Enditem