A farmer working his land in the village of Behbeit El-Hagar, in Egypt's Gharbia governorate in the Nile Delta, came across an inscribed stone block and reported it to local antiquities officials, according to Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and multiple outlets that covered the announcement. The report prompted the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) to send a specialized team for a rescue excavation on the site.
The farmer, identified in reports as Khaled El-Shahat Khalil (also rendered as Khaled Khalil), found the stone while cultivating cucumbers on his property, according to Euronews and the Yahoo News summary of the ministry's statement. Behbeit El-Hagar is already known to archaeologists as the location of the ruins of an ancient temple dedicated to the goddess Isis.
What was unearthed
The excavation team recovered fragments of two monumental royal statues plus an inscribed granite block, according to Euronews, HeritageDaily and Archaeology Wiki, all of which cited the SCA's findings.
- A colossal head measuring about 1.60 meters, showing the pharaoh wearing the pschent, the double crown representing Upper and Lower Egypt. Its back pillar bears the king's Horus name.
- A second statue fragment about 2.40 meters long, with well-preserved facial features and the nemes, the striped royal headdress. Its legs and base are missing.
- A pink granite block roughly 1.30 meters long, inscribed with hieroglyphics including the royal titles "Nesu-Bity" (King of Upper and Lower Egypt) and "Sa Ra" (Son of Ra).
Based on the proportions of the head, Hisham El-Leithy, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, estimated that the complete first statue originally stood approximately 8.5 meters tall including its base, according to Euronews and HeritageDaily. Archaeologists believe the second, headless fragment may also depict Ramses II, though this has not been confirmed.
Site and historical background
Behbeit El-Hagar is best known for the remains of a temple to Isis; HeritageDaily states the surviving remains largely date to the Late Period and the Ptolemaic era, while Archaeology Wiki links the site's Isis worship back to the Old Kingdom and describes a monumental temple dated to the 30th Dynasty. The presence of statues linked to Ramses II, who ruled roughly thirteen centuries earlier during the 19th Dynasty, raises questions about earlier phases of activity at the site that researchers have not yet fully explained.
Ramses II reigned for more than six decades, from around 1279 to 1213 BC, and is known for extensive building projects across Egypt and Nubia, according to HeritageDaily's summary of the period.
Response and recognition
Egypt's Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy praised the farmer for reporting the find rather than keeping or selling it, according to HeritageDaily and Yahoo News. Khalil and his wife received certificates of appreciation, Yahoo News and Euronews reported; Euronews additionally reported that authorities offered the couple a sponsored Umrah pilgrimage to Mecca, and that the farmer asked the Gharbia governor for help funding a village ambulance.
The ministry's statement, as relayed by Euronews and HeritageDaily, framed the case as an example of community cooperation in protecting archaeological heritage. No monetary reward figure was disclosed in the sources reviewed.
What remains unknown
Archaeologists have not yet confirmed whether the second statue fragment depicts Ramses II or another ruler, and the exact original context of the statues at a site otherwise associated with the Isis temple has not been established. The excavation was continuing at the time of the reports reviewed, and no completion date was given.
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