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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11While working his land in Behbeit el-Hagar in Egypt’s Nile Delta, farmer Khaled al-Shahat uncovered an inscribed pink-granite block that led archaeologists to two enormous royal statues. The first is securely connected to Ramesses II by royal titles and a Horus-name inscription; the second is considered probably Ramesses II but has not yet yielded a reported naming inscription. Their presence beside Behbeit el-Hagar’s much later granite temple to Isis remains unexplained.
A farmer’s report triggered the excavation
Al-Shahat said he was working his land on a Friday when he encountered an unusual stone and notified the relevant authorities. Egyptian antiquities officials organized a rescue excavation after examining the find. As digging expanded, the team uncovered additional granite fragments and the remains of two colossal statues.
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“I was surprised and happy when they discovered more antiquities,” al-Shahat told CBS News. “They told me this might change the history of the area.” The discovery illustrates why reporting an isolated inscribed stone matters: the block’s position and associated fragments provided the starting point for investigating what lay beneath the field.
What the granite block says
The carved pink-granite block is approximately 1.3 metres long. It preserves two of Ramesses II’s standard royal titles: “King of Upper and Lower Egypt” (Nesw-Bity) and “Son of Ra” (Sa-Ra). Those formulas identify the king represented in the inscription as Ramesses II rather than merely indicating that the stone belonged to an unspecified pharaoh.
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How archaeologists identify the two statues
| Statue | Evidence and surviving material | Scale reported | Identification confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| First statue | Head plus a back-pillar fragment carrying the Horus name “Hor Ka Nakht Mery Maat,” also rendered “Hor Kanakht Mery-Maat” | Head about 1.6 metres high; complete figure estimated at about 8.5 metres (28 feet) including its base | Strongly tied to Ramesses II by the royal titles and Horus-name inscription |
| Second statue | Surviving section about 2.4 metres long; legs and base are missing; face resembles the first statue | Only the surviving section’s length has been reported | Probably Ramesses II, but reports have not cited a naming inscription on this piece |
The first statue
The first statue’s 1.6-metre head is the clearest guide to its original scale. Using the head’s proportions, archaeologists estimate that the complete statue stood about 8.5 metres, or roughly 28 feet, high with its base. This is a proportional reconstruction, not a measurement of a fully preserved monument.
The back-pillar fragment adds another identification clue. Its Horus name, “Hor Ka Nakht Mery Maat,” is a royal name associated with Ramesses II. Together, the titles on the granite block and the Horus-name fragment provide inscriptional evidence linking the monument to his reign.
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The second statue
The second statue survives as a section approximately 2.4 metres long. Its legs and base are absent, and its facial features resemble those of the first statue. Officials therefore regard it as probably another image of Ramesses II. That attribution is less certain than the first statue’s because the available reports do not identify a naming inscription on the surviving section.
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Behbeit el-Hagar lies in Gharbia Governorate in the Nile Delta. The site is famous for the Iseum, a monumental granite temple dedicated to the goddess Isis. Its principal construction is associated with Nectanebo II, who ruled from 360 to 342 BCE.
Ramesses II ruled approximately 1279–1213 BCE. The main Iseum building phase linked to Nectanebo II therefore belongs roughly 870 to 900 years after Ramesses II’s death. The statues were found at or near this later temple complex, making their chronology central to the discovery.
Why were Ramesses II statues beside a much later temple?
No explanation has been established yet. The statues could have been created for the location, transported from another Ramesside monument, or reused when the later Isis complex was developed. Current reports do not establish which scenario is correct, and excavation is continuing.
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Ancient Egyptian temples were repeatedly expanded, repaired and reorganized over many centuries, so a later sanctuary can contain earlier royal material without proving that the earlier statues were commissioned for that exact building. Their original setting, date of relocation and relationship to the Iseum should become clearer only when archaeologists document more of the excavation context and publish additional inscriptions.
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- Archaeologists must record the statues’ find positions and relationships to architectural remains.
- Additional fragments may reveal names, titles or dedicatory text, especially for the second statue.
- Conservation and study can help determine whether the pieces belong to one monument, separate monuments or a later reuse of older royal sculpture.
- Further excavation may clarify whether the field covered an extension of the known temple precinct or another installation nearby.
For now, the secure result is a major Ramesses II discovery initiated by a farmer’s prompt report: one inscriptionally identified colossal statue, a second probable Ramesses II figure, and an unresolved question about how New Kingdom royal monuments came to rest beside a temple developed centuries later.
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