Archeologists have recently discovered a massive eight meters statue submerged in ground water. They are assuming that it could be Pharaoh Ramses II, who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago.
The statue was founded by the Egyptian and German archeologist in the heavily populated Ain Shams and Matariya district. The team was working at what was once Heliopolis, one of the oldest cities in ancient Egypt and the cult center for the sun god as per Reuters.
Dietrich Raue, head of German archeologists told to Live Science that they found two big fragments so far. They did not recover the base and legs yet but they recovered the chest and head. According to Egypt museum of the University of Leipzig, estimates that the statue is about 26 feet or 8 meters tall.
Ramses II was the third king of Egypt's 19th dynasty. He ruled 66 years from 1279 to 1215 B.C. During his long reign, he built more temples and monuments. A mighty warrior, Ramses II created an empire that stretched from present-day Libya to Iraq in the east.
Again archeologist uncovered art of a life-size statue of Pharaoh Seti II, Ramses I's son. Ramses I was the grandfather of Ramses II. The statue measures nearly 3 feet (80 centimeters) tall and includes detailed facial features. The discovery of the colossal statue is very important because it shows that the sun temple was impressive, stated by Ayman Ashmawy, head of the Egyptian archaeological team.
The temple suffered damages during the Greco-Roman period (about 332 B.C. to A.D. 395). Ashmawy again said that most of its obelisks and colossal statues were moved to Alexandria and Europe. The rest of the monument disappeared during the Islamic era eighth to 13th century A.D. and its blocks were used in the construction of historic Cairo.
Dietrich Raue said his team will continue to excavate the area in search of other fragments.He is assuming that maybe another statue will be there. Experts will now attempt to extract the remaining pieces of both statues before restoring them. Once restored and its identity confirmed, it may be placed at the entrance of the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is expected to open in Cairo in 2018.
