Egyptian and German archeologists have discovered the head of a colossal statue which could be an image of Nefertari, the queen of Pharaoh Ramses II, a senior antiquities official said today.
The head, discovered in the Nile Delta region of Tel Basta, could also belong to her daughter Princess Merit-Amon, the official said.
"The head, in granite, stands 11 feet high and 10 feet wide, and weighs more than 11 tons," the director of antiquities for the Delta, Mr Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud, told AFP.
"These measurements mean that the statue measured more than 52 feet in height, which would make it the largest discovered in the Delta region," added Mr Maqsoud, comparing it to the famous colossi of Ramses II in the temple of Abu Simbel in Egypt's far south which stands at about 75 feet.
Ramses II was the most famous pharaoh of the 19th dynasty and numerous monuments glorifying himself and his favorite wife, Nefertari, were erected during his 63-year reign from 1298 to 1235 BC.
"The statue is of a queen wearing a long wig and whose head is surmounted by a crown carrying in front the heads of goddesses Nekhbet and Maat," said Mr Zahi Hawass, secretary general of the Supreme Council for Antiquities.
"The statue still carries traces of blue on the wig and red in the face," he said.
AFP