NEW YORK, NY.- A monumental ancient Egyptian statue of a seated pharaoh —probably Amenemhat II —will be lent to The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Berlin’s renowned Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preussischer Kulturbesitz for a period of ten years, beginning this month. The ten-foot-tall, nearly nine-ton, 4,000-year-old sculpture entered the Berlin museum’s collection in 1837. Because of a construction project now underway —to renovate the courtyard on Museumsinsel (Museum Island) where the artwork has most recently been displayed— the statue had to be moved, thereby providing the opportunity for this long-term loan. The sculpture will go on view in the Metropolitan’s Great Hall for approximately one year before it is moved into The Lila Acheson Wallace Galleries of Egyptian Art. The Middle Kingdom sculpture is an outstanding example of ancient Egypt