During routine infrastructure work in the city of Ashmunein, Egyptian archaeologists have discovered the upper half of a massive limestone statue of Pharaoh Ramses II. The fragment, measuring nearly 4 meters in height, depicts the king wearing the double crown and a headdress topped with a royal cobra.
The statue is believed to have been part of a grand temple complex dedicated to the god Thoth. Excavations are currently underway to locate the lower half of the statue, which was documented by researchers in the 1930s but subsequently lost to the shifting sands and urban growth.