Egyptian Farmer Unearths Two Colossal Ramses II Statues in the Nile Delta

Khaled Khalil, a cucumber farmer working land near Behbeit el-Hagar in Egypt's Nile Delta, noticed an unusual pink granite block in his field and — rather than keeping it — immediately reported it to the authorities. The decision triggered an excavation that uncovered two colossal statues of Pharaoh Ramses II, who ruled Egypt for over six decades from 1279 to 1213 BC. The first find is a stone head measuring 1.6 metres tall, depicting the king wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt; archaeologists estimate the complete statue would originally have stood around 8.5 metres high. A second statue, roughly 2.4 metres long and missing its legs and base, shows a well-preserved face under a royal nemes headdress and is also believed to portray Ramses II, though confirmation is still pending. A pink granite block bearing hieroglyphic inscriptions including the pharaoh's Horus name was also recovered. The site lies close to ruins of a temple dedicated to the goddess Isis. Excavations continue as archaeologists investigate how the new fragments relate to the surrounding ancient structures. In recognition of his honesty, the farmer and his wife were awarded a pilgrimage trip to Mecca by Egypt's Minister of Tourism and Antiquities.