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Mikhail Polyakov

A local man found the remains of two large statues in Egypt, one bearing the name of Ramesses II: what is known about the find and what is not yet

Level: BeginnerReading time: 5 min

Topics: History

A stone fragment of a statue with a tall double crown lies tilted in an excavation, beside a block of pink granite and a shovel, with palm trees and village houses at sunset behind

The short answer: a resident of the village of Behbeit El Hagar in northern Egypt, while working on his land, found the remains of two large statues and immediately reported them to Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. The large statue depicts the pharaoh Ramesses II; his name is in an inscription on it. What survives of it is mainly the head, 1.6 metres tall, while the whole figure is estimated to have been about 8.5 metres. The second statue is about 2.4 metres tall, and the ministry considers it probable that it also depicts Ramesses II. Below: what was found, which figures were measured and which was estimated, and what remains unknown.

Where the news comes from

The news appeared on 15 October 2026 in Live Science (author Owen Jarus). He relies on a statement by Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities published on its Facebook page, and on a comment by Egyptologist Mahmoud Emam of Cairo University, who has worked on finds from this site but was not involved in the new excavation. I did not read the ministry's statement itself, only its summary in Live Science. Live Science wrote that it contacted the excavation team but had not heard back by the time of publication.

What was found

  • Who and where. The find was made by local resident Khaled el-Shahat. The ministry sent a team to the village of Behbeit El Hagar to excavate and study the statues. According to Emam, the statues were found on the western side of the temple complex.
  • The large statue. It is estimated to have stood nearly 8.5 metres (28 feet) tall when it was built. What survives is mainly the head, 1.6 metres tall. The pharaoh is shown wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt.
  • The inscription. Part of the back pillar of the statue carries a hieroglyphic inscription with the pharaoh's so-called "Horus" name: Hor-Ka-Nakht-Mery-Maat. Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley, in a 2001 book, translates it as "Strong Bull, Beloved of Right, Truth". Pharaohs often had several names, and the Horus name was given in honour of the sky god Horus.
  • The second statue. About 2.4 metres tall. According to the ministry's statement, it too probably depicts Ramesses II. The king on it wears the nemes, a striped headcloth that pharaohs wore.
  • A granite block. Next to the second statue lies a block of pink granite with two hieroglyphic inscriptions. They name Ramesses II as "King of Upper and Lower Egypt" and "Son of Ra", the sun god.

What kind of place this is

Behbeit El Hagar is known for its temple of Isis, a goddess associated with healing and magic. According to Emam, architectural fragments bearing the name of Ramesses II had been found there before. In a 2017 paper, Emam and colleagues described two such fragments near the temple of Isis: one is believed to come from the upper part of a statue, the other seems to come from the upper part of a wall.

"We concluded that Ramesses II had undertaken major building works at the temple and recommended further archaeological investigations," Emam said. According to him, the site is threatened by urban growth, and excavation at the temple should be carried out.

Ramesses II himself, according to Live Science, ruled from around 1279 to 1213 BC, for 66 years, and this is one of the longest reigns in Egypt's history. He began many building projects, and his statues are found throughout Egypt.

What here is a find and what is an estimate

This is my own breakdown, not words from the source.

  1. The find. The head of the large statue, 1.6 metres tall, wearing the double crown; the second statue, about 2.4 metres tall; the granite block with inscriptions.
  2. Read from the inscriptions. The name of Ramesses II on the large statue and on the granite block.
  3. An estimate. The height of the large statue, about 8.5 metres: this is a calculation of what it was like when whole, not a measurement.
  4. A probability. That the second statue depicts Ramesses II specifically, the ministry calls probable.
  5. A conclusion. Live Science writes that the finds add evidence that Ramesses II invested heavily in this site.

What is missing from the source: the age of the individual fragments, how the height of the large statue was estimated, and the ministry's plans for further excavation.

How to read news like this. Tell apart what was measured from what was calculated. Compare, in the text, the sizes of the surviving parts with the wording about the original height: here the head is 1.6 metres, while 8.5 metres is given with the word "likely". If the method of estimation is not stated, treat this figure as an estimate. The Live Science subheading carries exactly that estimate of 28 feet, although what survives of the large statue is mainly the head.

Summary

In northern Egypt, a local man found the remains of two statues and immediately reported the find to the authorities. The large one bears the name of Ramesses II; the second, according to the ministry's statement, probably also depicts him. The head of the large statue (1.6 metres) and the second statue (about 2.4 metres) were measured, while 8.5 metres is an estimate of the height of the whole large statue. How the height estimate was obtained is not stated in the Live Science account. There are no details yet from the excavation team itself.

See also another piece in this section: A ring with a lighthouse from the sunken island of Antirhodos.

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