OMM Newsroom
An Egyptian villager’s discovery of an inscribed stone near his home led archaeologists to a colossal statue head of Pharaoh Ramses II and other ancient artifacts, the Tourism and Antiquities Ministry said Wednesday.
Khaled el-Shahat Khalil found the stone while working on his land in Behbeit el-Hagar village in Gharbia province, in northern Egypt, and alerted local antiquities officials, the ministry said.
Excavations uncovered a 1.6-metre-tall head from a large statue of Ramses II. The pharaoh is depicted wearing the double crown, a symbol of the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.
Archaeologists also found much of a second royal statue, measuring 2.4 metres and believed to depict Ramses II. Its head has well-preserved facial features beneath a traditional royal headdress.
A nearby 1.3-metre block of pink granite bears hieroglyphic inscriptions, including two royal titles of Ramses II.
Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy and Gharbia Governor Alaa Abdel Moaty visited Khalil in his village on Wednesday to honour him for reporting the discovery. Khalil and his wife received a certificate of appreciation and an Umrah pilgrimage to Mecca.
Fathy said Khalil’s decision to alert authorities had enabled archaeologists to excavate the site and preserve the artifacts. Behbeit el-Hagar, in Egypt’s Nile Delta, is also home to the remains of an ancient temple dedicated to the goddess Isis.
