Egypt extracts torso of 'Pharaoh Ramses II' statue from mud

Image copyrightAP

Image captionThe statue was found in wasteland inbetween apartment blocks on the site of the ancient capital, Heliopolis

The torso of a huge statue, possibly 3,000 years old, has been lifted from the ground in Egypt. It could depict a famous pharaoh.

ሶስት ሺህ አመት ያስቆጠረ የራሚሰስ ሁለተኛ የፈርኦን ሀውልት በካይሮ በተካሄደ ቁፋሮ ተገኘ። ሀውልቱን ያገኙት የግብፅና የጀርመን አርኬዮሎጂስቶች ናቸው። ሀውልቱ 8 ሜትር ርዝመት ያለው ነው።

The statue's giant head and other fragments were extracted from the same site last week.

The relics were found in the north-east of Cairo, close to the temple of Ramses II, also known as Ramses the Great, and experts believe it may represent him.

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionPart of the torso was hauled out from deep muddy groundwater using a crane on Monday

Image copyrightREUTERS

Image captionThe Ministry of Antiquities said the statue's parts would be moved and assembled at the Egyptian museum in central Cairo. It's hoped that it will be possible to put the two large pieces together.

Image copyrightREUTERS

Image captionThe figure is made out of quarzite

Image copyrightREUTERS

Image captionResidents close to where the statue was found cheer its excavation - one leading Egyptologist said if it proved to be original, rather than a later reworking to resemble Ramses II, it would prove to be a significant find

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionFound last week by an Egyptian-German archaeological team, the statue weighs three tonnes - excavation will finish on Tuesday

Image copyrightAP

Image captionAnother part of a statue - a large head - was extracted on Thursday last week