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Ancient Pharaoh’s Statue Fragments Unearthed in Egypt’s Nile Delta
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Accidental Discovery in Behbeit El Hagar
A farmer working his field in the village of Behbeit El Hagar uncovered a pink granite stone that “looked out of place.” The farmer, Khaled El-Shahat Khalil (also reported as Khaled al-Shahat), alerted the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Ministry officials promptly dispatched a rescue-excavation team to the site, where they uncovered the remains of two massive statues of Ramesses II, the New-Kingdom pharaoh famed for his long reign.
Description and Scale of the Finds
The first fragment is a head measuring about 1.60 m (? 5 ft) high, crowned with the double pschent that symbolises the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. Nearby, a backing pillar bearing the Horus name “Hor Ka Nakht Mery Maat” (“Strong Bull, Beloved of Maat”) was recovered; the inscription was dated October 20 2026. Dr. Hisham El-Leithy, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, noted that the head’s size suggests the original statue may have stood around 8.5 m (? 28 ft).
The second fragment consists of an upper portion 2.4 m tall, displaying a well-preserved face and a nemes headdress, though its legs and base are missing. ) and “Sa Ra” (“Son of Ra”).
Official Responses
Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy presented Khalil and his wife with a certificate of appreciation and a pilgrimage trip to Saudi Arabia, emphasizing the find’s importance for Egyptian heritage. The Ministry announced that excavations will continue on Khalil’s land to further investigate the statues and the surrounding temple complex.
Expert Insight
> “We concluded that Ramesses II had undertaken major building works at the temple and recommended further archaeological investigations to shed more light on the early history of the site,” — Mahmoud Emam, Egyptologist, Cairo University
Significance and Ongoing Work
Behbeit El Hagar sits on the western side of the ancient Iseion, a temple dedicated to the goddess Isis that belonged to the Twelfth Lower Egyptian Nome of Sebennytos. Earlier discoveries—including a broken sandstone lintel in August and a partial statue at Tel Faraon—demonstrate that the area was a focal point of Ramesses II’s building program. Egyptologists suggest that continued investigation may clarify the pharaoh’s architectural activities in the Nile Delta and enrich understanding of this historically under-excavated site.