Archaeologists in Egypt discover massive statue in Cairo slum

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Egyptian workers look at the site of a discovery by a team of German-Egyptian archaeologists in Cairo’s Mattarya district. Statues of the kings and queens of the 19th dynasty (1295-1185 B.C.) were unearthed in the vicinity of the Temple of Ramses II in what was the old pharonic city.

(Khaled Desouki / AFP/Getty Images)

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Egyptian workers prepare to lift parts of a statue for restoration after it was unearthed in the Mattarya area of Cairo. According to the Ministry of Antiquities, a German-Egyptian archaeological mission found two royal statues in the vicinity of the King Ramses II temple in ancient Heliopolis.

(Khaled Elfiqi / EPA)

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Egyptian workers prepare to lift parts of a statue for restoration after it was unearthed in Cairo.

(Khaled Elfiqi / EPA)

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Egyptian workers use an excavator to lift parts of a statue for restoration after it was unearthed in Cairo.

(Khaled Elfiqi / EPA)

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Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Khaled Enany, left, inspects a part of a statue after it was unearthed in Cairo.

(Khaled Elfiqi / EPA)

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A boy on a bicycle in a Cairo slum rides past a recently discovered statue that may be of Pharaoh Ramses II.

(Amr Nabil / Associated Press)

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Egyptian workers examine the site of a discovery by a team of German-Egyptian archaeologists in Cairo. Statues of the kings and queens of the 19th dynasty (1295-1185 B.C.) were unearthed in the vicinity of the Temple of Ramses II in what was the old pharonic city.

(Khaled Desouki / AFP/Getty Images)

By Associated Press

March 10, 2017 7:20 AM PT

Reporting from Cairo — Archaeologists in Egypt discovered a massive statue in a Cairo slum that may be of Pharaoh Ramses II, one of the country’s most famous ancient rulers.

The colossus, whose head was pulled from mud and groundwater by a bulldozer and seen by the Associated Press on Friday, is around 26 feet high and was discovered by a German-Egyptian team.

Egyptologist Khaled Nabil Osman said the statue was an “impressive find” and the area is likely full of other buried antiquities.

“It was the main cultural place of ancient Egypt. Even the Bible mentions it,” he said. “The sad news is that the whole area needs to be cleaned up. The sewers and market should be moved.”

Ramses II ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago and was a great builder whose effigy can be seen at a string of archaeological sites across the country.

Massive statues of the warrior-king can be seen in Luxor, and his most famous monument is found in Abu Simbel, near Sudan.

Osman said the massive head removed from the ground was made in the style that Ramses was depicted and likely was him. The site contained parts of both that statue and another.

Egypt is packed with ancient treasures, many of which remain buried. The sites open to tourists often are empty of late as the country has suffered from political instability that has scared off foreigners since its Arab Spring uprising in 2011.

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