“The upper part of the unique statue of Ramesses II made of pink granite … has been found”, Mostafa Waziri, the secretary-general of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, said.
He stressed that a similar statue of one of the pharaohs of the Third Dynasty had been recently found but it was made of wood.
The height of the statue amounts to 105 centimetres (41 inches), while the width to 55 centimetres.
The statue was found in a private territory, which belonged to a person, who was arrested over illegal archaeological excavations.
In November, French archaeologists found three well-preserved 3,500-year-old sarcophagi in El-Assasif necropolis near the city of Luxor.
Ramesses II, the pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty, ruled in Egypt in 1279-1213 BC. He is believed to be the most powerful pharaoh of the New Kingdom (also known as the Egyptian Empire). Ramesses II led the Egyptian troops in the legendary Battle of Kadesh, 1274 BC, against the Hittite King of Muwatalli II, which ended in a draw and a peace treaty between the two greatest empires of the era.
