Landowner working his land at Behbeit El Hagar uncovers two giant Ramesses II statues
Landowner Khaled el-Shahat found two giant Ramesses II statues at Behbeit El Hagar in northern Egypt, and the antiquities ministry sent a team to excavate. Live Science says they add to the evidence of the king's investment in the Isis temple site.
The Scientist · Science desk
Bar chart of heights in metres: the larger statue likely stood nearly 8.5 when originally built; the second statue stands about 2.4; the larger statue's surviving head is 1.6.
Height in metres; larger statue as originally built In metres
| Item | Value | Claim |
|---|---|---|
| Larger statue, likely nearly | 8.5 metres | 3 |
| Second statue, about | 2.4 metres | 4 |
| Larger statue's surviving head | 1.6 metres | 3 |
What happened
- The larger statue likely stood nearly 8.5 metres tall when built, but most of what survives is its 1.6-metre head in the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt.
- The second statue stands about 2.4 metres and also likely depicts Ramesses II, shown in the striped Nemes headcloth, according to the ministry statement.
- A pink granite block near the second statue carries two inscriptions naming Ramesses II, including the titles "King of Upper and Lower Egypt" and "Son of Ra."
- Cairo University Egyptologist Mahmoud Emam says the statues came out of the western side of the temple complex.
Why it matters
- Who has to decide decision Emam says the temple site is threatened by urban growth and needs excavation, so the ministry now decides how far its work extends past the statues' find spots.
- What it limits constraint Dimensions and identifications come from a ministry statement relayed by Live Science, and the second statue is only called likely to be the king, so the record stays provisional until the team publishes.
- What it sets up precedent The 2017 inference of major Ramesses II building at the temple now has two statues and an inscribed block beside the two fragments it was drawn from.
The 8.5-metre height of the larger statue is a reconstruction from a head. The surviving head is about 19 percent of that estimate [8], and Live Science words the height as what the statue likely reached when built [3].
Writing on the statue helps with identification. Part of the back pillar carries the Horus name Hor-Ka-Nakht-Mery-Maat [6]. Joyce Tyldesley, professor emeritus of Egyptology at the University of Manchester, wrote in her 2001 book on the king that the name means "Strong Bull, Beloved of Right, Truth" [7].
Mahmoud Emam, an Egyptologist at Cairo University, has worked on remains from the site but was not involved in this excavation [10]. His team's 2017 paper reported two architectural fragments bearing Ramesses II's name near the Isis temple, one believed to come from the upper part of a statue and the other from the upper part of a wall [11]. "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," Emam said [12].
Live Science writes that the new finds add more evidence that Ramesses II was heavily invested in the site [16]. Statues of the king are not rare, though. Numerous ones have been found throughout Egypt [14], so what counts here is where these two lay.
Their finder was working his land, not running a survey [1]. That makes the pair a record of one spot on the western side of the complex [9] and a thin guide to the rest of it. The thing this doesn't tell you is whether the statues were found where they were first set up. Live Science asked the excavation team and had not heard back by publication [15].
What to watch
- Whether the ministry or the excavation team publishes find-spot details showing if the statues lay where they were first set up.
- Whether excavation widens from the statue locations to the rest of the Isis temple complex, as Emam says it should.
- Whether the inscriptions on the granite block and the back pillar are published in full for other Egyptologists to read.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence68
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence65
Perspective Coverage
3 publishers- Builder
- Builder 10%
- Operator
- Operator 17%
- Investor
- Investor 73%
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Khaled el-Shahat, while working on his land in a village in northern Egypt, found the remains of two massive statues of Ramesses II.
- [2]
El-Shahat notified the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, which sent a team to the village of Behbeit El Hagar to excavate and study the statues, according to a translated ministry statement.
- [3]
The larger statue was likely nearly 8.5 meters (28 feet) tall when originally built, but most of what remains is its head, 1.6 meters (5.2 feet) tall, which depicts the pharaoh wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt.
- [4]
The second statue stands about 2.4 meters (7.9 feet) and also likely depicts Ramesses II, the statement said; the king is shown wearing the Nemes headdress, a striped headcloth.
- [5]
Near the second statue is a block of pink granite with two hieroglyphic inscriptions that name Ramesses II and describe him as "King of Upper and Lower Egypt" and the "Son of Ra," the statement said.
- [6]
Part of the larger statue's back pillar has a hieroglyphic inscription giving the pharaoh's Horus name, Hor-Ka-Nakht-Mery-Maat.
- [7]
Joyce Tyldesley, professor emeritus of Egyptology at the University of Manchester, wrote in her 2001 book "Ramesses: Egypt's Greatest Pharaoh" that the Horus name means "Strong Bull, Beloved of Right, Truth."
- [8]
The surviving head of the larger statue is about 19 percent of the statue's estimated original height.
- [9]
Mahmoud Emam noted that the newly found statues were unearthed on the western side of the temple complex.
- [10]
Mahmoud Emam, an Egyptologist at Cairo University, has worked on remains from the Behbeit El Hagar site but was not involved in the recent excavation.
- [11]
Emam and colleagues reported in a 2017 paper two architectural fragments bearing the name of Ramesses II near the Isis temple at Behbeit El Hagar; one is believed to be from the upper part of a statue and the other seems to originate from the upper part of a wall.
- [12]
"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," Emam said.
- [13]
Emam noted that the site is threatened by urban growth and that excavation work should be carried out at the temple.
- [14]
Numerous Ramesses II statues have been found throughout Egypt.
- [15]
Live Science reached out to the excavation team but did not hear back by the time of publication.
- [16]
According to Live Science, the new finds add more evidence that Ramesses II was heavily invested in the site.
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Sources
3 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- dexerto.comMan discovers 28-foot statue of legendary pharaoh on his property
1 article · October 14, 2026
- gizmodo.comAn Egyptian Villager Stumbled Upon an Inscribed Stone. It Led to a Colossal Head of Ramses II
1 article · October 15, 2026
- livescience.com2 giant Ramesses II statues, one wearing a double crown, discovered by man in Egypt
1 article · October 15, 2026
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Topics
- EgyptologyFollow
- Archaeological discoveriesFollow
Entities
- Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and AntiquitiesFollow
- Behbeit El HagarFollow
- Live ScienceFollow
- Ramesses IIFollow
- Supreme Council of AntiquitiesFollow