Archaeology & History

'Big discovery' as statue unearthed in Egypt

By T.K. Randall
March 10, 2017

Image: The Mortuary Complex of Menkaure, Egypt
Credit: Noureddin Abdulbari / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) Hailed by the Egyptian Antiquities Ministry as one of the most important finds in years, the huge statue was found submerged in groundwater near the site of the ancient city of Heliopolis.

Ramses II (or Ramses the Great) was one of Egypt's most powerful rulers. Third of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, he was believed to have ruled from 1279 to 1213 BCE.

Archaeologists herald find of 26-ft. statue, likely depicting Ramses II, submerged in ground water in Cairo slum. https://t.co/GzuKxQMAj2 pic.twitter.com/mbVIvkPlmF

— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) March 10, 2017

"Last Tuesday they called me to announce the big discovery of a colossus of a king, most probably Ramses II, made out of quartzite," said Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anani."We found the bust of the statue and the lower part of the head and now we removed the head and we found the crown and the right ear and a fragment of the right eye."

A smaller statue of Pharaoh Seti II, Ramses II's grandson, was also unearthed at the site.

Experts are now tasked with carefully extracting and restoring both statues so that they can be displayed at the entrance of the Grand Egyptian Museum when it opens in 2018.

Source: Telegraph

Tags: Ramses, Statue, Cairo, Egypt