Archaeologists hail 'big discovery' in Egypt as statue 'depicting Ramses II' unearthed

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The tall figure was barely visible at first as it lay sideways in a muddy pit between two apartment buildings in northeast Cairo.

But as the sewage water was drained away and the dirt scraped off, the onlookers in the working class neighbourhood began to make out a recognisably royal frame. 

And then - just a few yards from where women hang their family’s laundry and vendors sell street food - emerged a towering statue of what is believed to be Egypt’s most famous pharaoh. 

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​​​​ statue workers say depicts Pharaoh Ramses II who ruled Egypt over 3,000 years was unearthed on Thursday in the Matariya area in  Cairo CREDIT: REUTERS

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The 26-foot tall figure is probably Ramses the Great, the most powerful ruler of ancient Egypt and the inspiration for Shelley’s poem Ozymandias, about the “colossal wreck” of a once-mighty king.  

The quartzite statue was found broken into several pieces in the Matariyyah neighborhood of Cairo by a German-Egyptian archaeological team, which first discovered the chest before locating its jaw and then eventually its crown.

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