Archaeologists have discovered a 26-feet-tall statue that is believed to be a likeness of Pharaoh Ramses II, who ruled Egypt between 1279 BC and 1213 BC. The statue was found in a slum in the eastern part of Cairo, reported The Guardian. Egypt’s antiquities ministry announced the discovery on Thursday.
“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 Khaled al-Anani, the antiquities minister. “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.”
The site of discovery is near the ruins of Ramses II’s temple in the ancient city of Heliopolis. The expedition was undertaken by archaeologists from Egypt and Germany. They also found part of a life-sized limestone statue of Pharaoh Seti II, Ramses’s grandson. If the remains turn out to be what the archaeologists believe they are, they will be placed after restoration at the entrance of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, which will open to public in 2018.
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