Egypt excavation uncovers fragments of royal statues

An excavation in Behbeit ElHagar, Egypt, has uncovered fragments of two monumental royal statues and an inscribed granite block after a resident alerted antiquities authorities to a carved stone on his land. One statue fragment, a 1.6-metre-tall head identified as Ramesses II, belonged to a monument estimated to have stood about 8.5 metres tall, including its base, according to Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities. The discovery began when Khaled ElShahat Khalil found an inscribed stone while working on land outside his home and reported it to local antiquities officials. The report prompted an excavation by a team affiliated with the Supreme Council of Antiquities. The excavators found the head wearing the double crown associated with Upper and Lower Egypt. Part of the statue’s back pillar also survived, bearing an inscription of Ramesses II’s Horus name. The estimated original height is based on the dimensions of the head and includes the statue’s base; the monument itself was not found intact. A second royal statue fragment, about 2.4 metres long, was also uncovered.