Archaeologists find missing top half of Ramses II statue in Egypt

Uncovered head and torso is a match for the lower section discovered in 1930 by a German archaeologist

The top half of a statue of Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II has been unearthed in southern Egypt, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has revealed.

The discovery by an Egyptian-US mission completes the statue after the lower half was discovered in the same area, the Ashmunein region of Al Minya province, almost a century ago.

The top section, 3.8 metres high, depicts Ramses II’s head, shoulders and upper torso.

The pharaoh is portrayed wearing the dual crown indicating his rule over both Egypt’s Upper and Lower kingdoms. A cobra, a symbol of royalty in ancient Egypt, can be seen at the front of the crown.

Preliminary scans of the limestone block have confirmed that it is part of the statue of Ramses II statue unearthed in 1930 by German archaeologist Gunther Roeder.

Once the two parts are joined, the statue is expected to stand 7 metres in height, according to Dr Bassem Gehad, head of the Egyptian team taking part in the excavation mission.

Ramses II, also known as Ramses the Great, was the third pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty of Egypt and ruled from 1,279 to 1,213 BCE.

The Egyptian team, working under the authority of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, and with counterparts from the University of Colorado mission, began an excavation in Ashmunein last year to find a religious complex believed to date back to Egypt’s New Kingdom era (1550-1070 BCE) before collapsing during Roman rule centuries later.

“Though we have not found the complex we were initially looking for, a statue of such importance is a sign that we are digging in the right place,” said Adel Okasha, an antiquities official who oversaw the dig.

He said more notable discoveries are expected.

The city of El Ashmunein, on the west bank of the Nile, was known in ancient Egypt as Khemnu and in the Greco-Roman era was the regional capital of Hermopolis Magna.