Egyptian officials unveil new archaeological finds

Archaeologists in Egypt unveil two new artifacts from antiquity, a rare statue of one of the country’s most famous pharaohs and a diminutive ancient sphinx.

Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities announces that a pink granite statue of celebrated ancient ruler Ramses II was found last week, describing the artifact as “one of the rarest archaeological discoveries.”

Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, says the three-and-a-half-foot statue was crafted in a style that ancient Egyptians used to portray and capture an individual’s essential nature, adding that it was the first such statue to be found fashioned from granite.

A hieroglyphic inscription found on the back of the stone bore the name “strong bull,” a reference to the king’s “strength and vitality,” he adds.

The statue, caked in mud, was found on the property of a man arrested earlier this month for carrying out illegal excavations near the ancient pyramids of Giza, according to the ministry statement. It did not say how the statue came to be on the man’s property.

— AP