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

An Egyptian farmer accidentally discovered fragments of two massive statues believed to depict Pharaoh Ramesses II while gardening in Behbeit El Hagar. The finds include a 1.60-meter-tall head fragment and a 2.4-meter-tall statue fragment, along with a pink granite block bearing hieroglyphic inscriptions. The farmer notified the Egyptian Tourism and Antiquities Ministry, which conducted rescue excavations.

An Egyptian farmer, Khaled El-Shahat Khalil, accidentally unearthed fragments of two massive statues believed to depict Pharaoh Ramesses II while working on his land in the village of Behbeit El Hagar, Egypt. The farmer notified the Egyptian Tourism and Antiquities Ministry, which sent a team to conduct rescue excavations. The first fragment is a 1.60-meter-tall head of Ramesses II wearing the pschent, or double crown, of Upper and Lower Egypt. Dr. Hisham El-Leithy, secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the size of the head indicated the statue may have originally stood at around 8.5 meters. The second fragment, standing 2.4 meters tall with well-preserved facial features, is missing its legs and base and shows the pharaoh wearing the traditional nemes headdress. A pink granite block bearing hieroglyphic inscriptions with two of Ramesses' titles was also found. Minister Sherif Fathy presented Khalil and his wife with a certificate of appreciation for reporting the finds.