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Egyptologists stumble upon huge Ramses II statue
August 5, 1996
Web posted at: 12:45 a.m. EDTGIZA PLATEAU, Egypt (CNN) -- Archaeologists last week unearthed a unique 3.5-ton pink granite statue believed to portray Ramses II, one of ancient Egypt's most illustrious pharaohs.
They made the discovery during routine excavations, literally stumbling onto the statue after months of work around the foot of the pyramid of Mycerinos. The statue is more than 11 feet tall, and portrays Ramses two ways: as king and as Re- Harakhti, the sun god.
The incomplete double-headed statue was sandwiched between limestone bricks and coated in centuries-old dust and sand in what archaeologists believe was an ancient workshop.
Egyptologists hope the discovery will help fill gaps in the mysterious history of the Giza Plateau. "This discovery is important from an artistic, religious and historical point of view and will help show us what in reality was going on in Giza," Ali Hassan, undersecretary of state for archaeology, told Reuters Television on Sunday.
"Ramses was a preserver and restorer of the Sphinx, and that explains to us the unique form of the statue which shows Ramses as the pharaoh and then with the disk of the sun as the god Re-Harakhti of the Giza Plateau," Hassan added.
For now, the unfinished statue of the youthful pharaoh has presented scientists not with answers, but with new puzzles. "This area is historically known as a cemetery for kings, queens and nobles," said director of antiquities Ahmed Al- Hagaar. "What's new about this discovery is that the statue of Ramses II and the god Re-Harakhti is from the new kingdom, and is placed in an area which is at least 15 dynasties older."
Some archaeologists believe Ramses II reigned around 1200 B.C. -- almost 1,400 years after Mycerinos' pyramid was built in 2600 B.C. By the Ramses II era, the kingdom's capital had moved south to Memphis, where several monuments to the megalomaniac king, immortalized in the P.B. Shelley poem "Ozymandias," have been discovered.
Over Ramses II's 67-year rule, he built more monuments and major statues than any other Egyptian king. Archaeologists said they did not know why this particular piece of statuary was not completed, and said it would have to be studied further. Egyptologists may be able to learn more about Ramses' relationship with the sun god through the piece.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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