No one expected a rare treasure such as a Pharaoh Ramses II statue to be found in the Cairo slum of Matariya, yet that’s exactly what was discovered just days ago. Reuters reports that archaeologists were stunned to find pieces of what is likely to be a 3,000-year-old statue depicting the legendary Pharaoh who was the third of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt and ruled from 1279 to 1213 BCE.
The eight-meter statue was submerged underground and, according to the Antiquities Ministry, may just be one of the most important discoveries ever. The upper part of a smaller statue, depicting Pharaoh Seti II (Ramses II’s grandson) and pieces of an obelisk bearing hieroglyphics were also excavated.
“Last Tuesday they called me to announce the big discovery of a colossus of a king, most probably Ramses II, made out of quartzite,” commented 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.”
The discovery is being ruled as ‘colossal’, as Ramses II is considered by many to have been the greatest Pharaoh to ever rule the Egyptian Empire. Additionally, this new find may help revive the Egyptian economy which has suffered greatly due to political unrest and terror attacks over the past six years.
Archeologists and historians have already begun to restore the artifacts so they might be displayed at the Grand Egyptian Museum which will open in 2018.
Following are some photographs of the newsworthy discovery:
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