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An Egyptian farmer growing cucumbers on his land has helped archaeologists find the remains of two colossal royal statues, including a head of Ramses II measuring 1.6 metres tall.
Khaled Khalil came across a stone bearing ancient carvings on land in front of his home in Behbeit el-Hagar, a village in the Nile Delta’s Gharbia governorate, and alerted antiquities officials.
Officials examined the stone before an Egyptian team from the Supreme Council of Antiquities began a rescue excavation, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
Egyptian news outlet Youm7 reported that Khalil had been growing his crop in a greenhouse on the plot and had not expected to find such a large ancient statue.
“See? Cucumbers bring antiquities,” Gharbia governor Alaa Abdel Moaty joked during a visit to the farmer’s home last week, according to the newspaper.
What archaeologists found
The newly discovered head depicts Ramses II wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. Archaeologists also found part of the statue’s back pillar bearing his Horus name, one of the pharaoh’s formal royal names.
Hisham el-Leithy, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the head’s proportions suggested the complete statue could originally have stood about 8.5 metres tall, including its base.
The surviving section of the second statue measures about 2.4 metres. Its legs and base are missing, but the face remains well preserved. It wears the royal nemes headdress, part of which is also missing.
Archaeologists think it may depict Ramses II because its facial features resemble those of the first head, although that identification has yet to be confirmed.
A separate pink granite block, about 1.3 metres long, carries hieroglyphic inscriptions including the titles “King of Upper and Lower Egypt” and “Son of Ra”.
Ramses II ruled Egypt for more than six decades, from around 1279 to 1213 BC, during the 19th Dynasty. Colossal statues of the pharaoh still stand at Abu Simbel, one of the best-known monuments of his reign.
Behbeit el-Hagar is known for the ruins of a large temple dedicated to the goddess Isis. Excavations and studies are continuing to establish how the newly found pieces relate to one another and to the surrounding site.
Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy visited Khalil to thank him for reporting the find. The farmer and his wife were awarded a trip to perform Umrah, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca that can be undertaken throughout the year.
During the visit, Khalil also asked the governor to help cover the remaining cost of an ambulance for the village. Residents had already raised part of the money, he said, according to local media.