A COLOSSAL statue that is believed to show one of Egypt’s most famous pharaohs has been lifted from a muddy ditch in a Cairo slum.
The three-tonne torso was pulled up by a crane and it took dozens of workers to support it while it was moved to dry land today.
28 The huge statue is gently raised from a watery grave. It lay undisturbed for thousands of yearsCredit: Getty Images
28 The colossus is believed to represent Ramses II, a vital figure in world historyCredit: Getty Images
28 The statue weighs three tonnes and is an incredibly valuable historical findCredit: Reuters
28 After the statue parts are collected together it will be painstakingly reconstructedCredit: AP:Associated Press
28 Crowds gathered to watch and cheer as the statue rises from the waterCredit: Reuters
The first part of the colossus, a large portion of the head, was pulled up on Thursday.
The Ministry of Antiquities says the statue’s parts will be collected at the Egyptian museum in central Cairo, where they will be pieced together and restored before being moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum near the Giza Pyramids, which will open next year.
The discovery, hailed by the Antiquities Ministry as one of the most important ever, was made near the ruins of Ramses II’s temple in the ancient city of Heliopolis, located in the eastern part of modern-day Cairo.
28 This proud Egyptian waved a flag during the excavation workCredit: Reuters
28 It took dozens of workers to safely guide it to dry landCredit: Getty Images
28 The discovery was made near the ruins of Ramses II’s temple in the ancient city of HeliopolisCredit: Getty Images
28 It is hoped the find will bring a boost to Egypt’s under-pressure tourism industryCredit: Getty Images
The most powerful and celebrated ruler of ancient Egypt, the pharaoh also known as Ramses the Great was the third of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt and ruled from 1279 to 1213 BCE.
He led several military expeditions and expanded the Egyptian Empire to stretch from Syria in the east to Nubia in the south. His successors called him the “Great Ancestor”.
The joint Egyptian-German expedition also found the upper part of a life-sized limestone statue of Pharaoh Seti II, Ramses II’s grandson.
28 The rebuilt statue will be installed at the Grand Egyptian Museum, which opens next yearCredit: Getty Images
28 The ancient statue’s torso is carefully lowered to the groundCredit: Getty Images
28 It has been hailed as one of the most important archaeological finds in the field of ancient historyCredit: Getty Images
28 The statue was found underwater in a forgotten chamber underneath a Cairo slumCredit: EPA
28 Ramses II led several military expeditions and expanded the Egyptian Empire to stretch from Syria in the east to Nubia in the southCredit: AP:Associated Press
28 It is the site of one of the largest temples in ancient EgyptCredit: EPA
28 Experts will now attempt to extract the remaining pieces of the statue before restoring itCredit: AP:Associated Press
28 The discovery was made in the working class area of Matariya, among unfinished buildings and mud roadsCredit: Reuters
28 Ancient Egyptians believed Heliopolis was the place where the sun god livedCredit: EPA
28 An aerial view gives an impression of how massive the completed statue will beCredit: EPA
28 Sadly, the temple was destroyed in Greco-Roman timesCredit: Reuters
28 Pharaoh Ramses II ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years agoCredit: Reuters
28 Workers and archaeologists had to be careful not to damage the priceless statue any furtherCredit: Reuters
28 Ramses the Great was the third of the Nineteenth Dynasty of EgyptCredit: EPA
28 A worker grins after the successful recoveryCredit: Reuters
28 Ramses’ successors called him the ‘Great Ancestor’Credit: EPA
28 Last week a large portion of the statue’s head was recoveredCredit: AP:Associated Press
28 Next year the statue will once again look out over the people of EgyptCredit: Getty Images
28 A boy rides his his bicycle past the head of the recently discovered statueCredit: AP:Associated Press
The sun temple in Heliopolis was founded by Ramses II, lending weight to the likelihood the statue is of him, archaeologists say.
It was one of the largest temples in Egypt, almost double the size of Luxor’s Karnak, but was destroyed in Greco-Roman times.
Many of its obelisks were moved to Alexandria or to Europe and stones from the site were looted and used for building as Cairo developed.