A farmer working his land in a village in northern Egypt has uncovered the remains of two colossal statues depicting Ramesses II.
Khaled el-Shahat promptly reported the discovery to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, which dispatched a team to Behbeit El Hagar to excavate and study the statues, according to a translated statement from the ministry.
Ramesses II presided over one of the longest reigns in ancient Egyptian history, ruling from approximately 1279 to 1213 B.C. During his six decades in power, Egypt controlled an empire stretching as far northeast as modern-day Syria. He initiated extensive building projects across the empire, and numerous statues of Ramesses II have been found throughout Egypt.
Archaeologists had previously uncovered architectural fragments bearing Ramesses II’s name at Behbeit El Hagar, a site known for its temple dedicated to Isis, the goddess associated with healing and magic, said Mahmoud Emam, an Egyptologist at Cairo University who has worked on remains from the site but was not involved in the recent excavation. He noted that the newly found statues were unearthed on the western side of the temple complex.
“Strong Bull”
Both statues were originally larger than life, with the larger likely standing nearly 28 feet (8.5 meters) tall when built. Most of what remains is its head, which is 5.2 feet (1.6 meters) tall and depicts the pharaoh wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt.
Part of the larger statue’s back pillar carries a hieroglyphic inscription giving the pharaoh’s “Horus” name: Hor-Ka-Nakht-Mery-Maat, meaning “Strong Bull, Beloved of Right, Truth,” Joyce Tyldesley, professor emeritus of Egyptology at the University of Manchester in the U.K., wrote in her book “Ramesses: Egypt’s Greatest Pharaoh” (Penguin Books, 2001). In Egypt, it was common for pharaohs to hold several alternate names, including Horus names conferred in honor of the sky god Horus.
The second statue, standing about 7.9 feet (2.4 meters), also likely depicts Ramesses II, the ministry said. The king is shown wearing the “Nemes” headdress, a striped headcloth worn by pharaohs, according to the Egypt Exploration Society.
Near this statue is a block of pink granite bearing two hieroglyphic inscriptions naming Ramesses II and describing him as “King of Upper and Lower Egypt” and “Son of Ra,” the ancient Egyptian sun god, the ministry’s statement said.
Previous Ramesses II Finds
The new discoveries add further evidence that Ramesses II was heavily invested in the site.
Previous discoveries include two architectural fragments bearing the name of Ramesses II near the Isis temple at Behbeit El Hagar, Emam and his colleagues reported in a 2017 paper. One is believed to be from the upper part of a statue, and the other appears to originate from the upper part of a wall.
“We concluded that Ramesses II had undertaken major building works at the temple and recommended further archaeological investigations to shed more light on the early history of the site,” Emam said. He noted that the site is threatened by urban growth and that excavation work should be carried out at the temple.
Live Science reached out to the team but did not receive a response by the time of publication.