Backyard find: Egyptian farmer unearths statue fragments believed to depict Ramesses II

Alongside the statue fragments, a pink granite block bearing several hieroglyphic inscriptions, including two of Ramesses’ titles: “Nesu-Bity,” meaning “King of Upper and Lower Egypt,” and "Sa Ra."

Fragments of two massive statues depicting Ramesses II were discovered by accident by a farmer working on his land in a northern Egyptian village, Egypt’s Tourism and Antiquities Ministry announced last week.

The fragments were found in Behbeit El Hagar, a village and archaeological site that is home to the remains of an ancient temple dedicated to the goddess Isis, known as the Iseion. In antiquity, it served as part of the ancient Egyptian nome of Sebennytos, the Twelfth Lower Egyptian Nome.

After discovering the stone blocks, the farmer, Khaled El-Shahat Khalil, notified the Egyptian Tourism and Antiquities Ministry, which sent a team to the village to conduct rescue excavations of the fragments.

The first fragment is a massive depiction of the head of Ramesses II, standing about 1.60 meters tall, which shows the pharaoh wearing the pschent (double crown) of Upper and Lower Egypt.

The backing of the statue was also found nearby, bearing an inscription of the pharaoh’s Horus name, "Hor Ka Nakht Meri Maat," meaning “Strong Bull, Beloved of Maat.”

Dr. Hisham El-Leithy, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, added that the size of the head indicated that the statue may have originally stood at around 8.5 meters.

The second statue fragment, also believed to belong to Ramesses II, stands 2.4 meters tall and has clear, well-preserved facial features.

Missing its legs and base, the fragment portrays the pharaoh wearing the traditional nemes headdress, the top part of which is missing.

Alongside the statue fragments, a pink granite block bearing several hieroglyphic inscriptions, including two of Ramesses’ titles: “Nesu-Bity,” meaning “King of Upper and Lower Egypt,” and "Sa Ra," meaning “Son of Ra.”

Following the discovery and the rescue excavations, Egyptian Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy presented Khalil and his wife with a certificate of appreciation for reporting the finds, stressing the importance of the discovery to the ongoing study of Egypt's history.

Partial statue, inscriptions of Ramesses II previously found

Previously, in August, archaeologists discovered a large, broken sandstone lintel inscribed both with the titles of Ramesses II as well as a reference to restoration work being carried out on a statue belonging to the deity “Horus, Lord of the City of Mesn.”

Earlier this year, archaeologists also found a partial statue of Ramesses II at the Tel Faraon archaeological site near El Husseiniya in the Nile Delta.

The statue was discovered incomplete, missing its legs and base. Even so, Leithy said at the time that, according to initial assessments, the statue weighed about five to six tons and stood around 2.20 meters tall (just over seven feet).

He added that although the statue was poorly preserved, the remaining features “display artistic and royal features suggesting it was once part of a Triad, similar to those uncovered at a number of archaeological sites across Sharqia Governorate.”