Archaeologists Dug Up A 3,000-Year-Old Statue Hidden In The Mud Below Cairo

Back in 2012, German and Egyptian archaeologists arrived in Matariya, a district of Egypt’s capital, Cairo. Historically, the area had been the site of Heliopolis, one of ancient Egypt’s major cities. Today, however, it is an impoverished neighborhood of the country’s bustling capital.

According to the University of Leipzig’s Dietrich Raue, who led the German part of the excavation, Matariya is of particular archaeological interest. Apparently, the ancient Egyptians believed that Heliopolis was the home of the sun god. Accordingly, many important buildings were constructed there.

“The sun god created the world in Heliopolis, in Matariya,” Raue said in a March 2017 interview with Reuters. “That’s what I always tell the people here when they say is there anything important. According to the pharaonic belief, the world was created in Matariya.”

Over the course of the excavations, the team systematically excavated the area around Matariya in search of ancient remains. And eventually, they came to a pit surrounded by abandoned construction sites. Filled with murky groundwater, it didn’t look promising initially.

In fact, Raue and his colleagues didn’t hold out much hope for a grand discovery at this point. Although they’d uncovered statue bases from a nearby courtyard, there was nothing to hint at the amazing revelation to come. “We thought [the pit] would be empty without any features,” Raue admitted in a March 2017 interview with CNN.

Nevertheless, the archaeologists began to work on the pit. They dug a hole down to around five feet below ground level and started to search the area. And, amazingly, that was when they made one of the most significant archaeological breakthroughs Egypt has ever witnessed.

As the archaeologists carried on with their work, the lower part of a giant face was slowly unveiled. Next, the crown of a huge head was uncovered. Gradually, then, a colossal statue that had been concealed beneath the mud began to reveal itself in all its glory.

Intrigued, the archaeologists continued to excavate the site, and they subsequently uncovered an ear and a segment of the statue’s right eye. By this time, the team knew that they had stumbled onto something important.

By March 9, 2017, the team was ready to reveal their discovery to the world. In front of the media and state officials, they used a crane and a forklift truck to remove part of the statue from its resting place. There was, however, some criticism on social media for the apparent clumsiness of the techniques they employed. Nevertheless, the ancient artwork appeared to have survived unscathed.

Eventually, the team was able to extract what remained of the gigantic head from the pit. Based on their observations, archaeologists estimate that the entire statue measured some 30 feet tall. And in historical terms, a huge statue such as this is known as a “colossus.”

The head is made from quartzite, a metamorphic rock that was often used to forge statues in ancient Egypt. But just who was this colossal monument intended to represent? Well, archaeologists believe that they might have the answer.

The statue was in fact retrieved close to the site of Heliopolis’ sun temple. This structure is thought to have been among the largest of ancient Egypt’s temples. Indeed, it was almost twice the size of the Karnak, the famous religious complex in Luxor, Egypt, some 300 miles to the south.

Over time, though, the Egyptians’ interest in the sun god dwindled, and Heliopolis was abandoned. Then, when the Roman Empire took control of the region, many of the city’s monuments were moved to other locations around Europe. And what was left behind often became incorporated into new buildings as Cairo grew over the years.

However, as it turns out, not all of Heliopolis was lost or forgotten. Although there were no visible inscriptions on the recently discovered statue, for example, the temple near to where it was found was dedicated to Ramses II. Accordingly, archaeologists believe that it is this ancient king who is represented by the colossus.

Ramses II came to the throne as a teenager in 1279 B.C., and he went on to become one of ancient Egypt’s greatest pharaohs. He was best known for his lengthy military campaigns against the Libyans and the Hittites. In addition, he carried out vast building projects across the Egyptian empire. Later called the “Great Ancestor” by his descendants, Ramses II ruled for 66 years until his death in 1213 B.C.

Understandably, the archaeologists at Matariya were thrilled by their latest find. In fact, according to the Egyptian Antiquities Ministry, it’s one of the most important discoveries ever made in the country. Today, work continues on the excavation of the extraordinary site.

At the moment, archaeologists are debating on the best way to remove the rest of the statue, which they believe is still buried in the pit. “I’m sure that [the hips and legs] will be there,” Raue told CNN. “But the problem is we’re in the middle of the city, and the bottom part may be very close to the houses.”

Once the statue is successfully excavated, experts will attempt to restore as much of the head and torso as possible. Afterwards, they hope to install the statue in pride of place at the entrance to the Grand Egyptian Museum, an ambitious project due to open in Giza, Egypt, in 2018. And if successful, they will ensure a fitting final legacy for one of Egypt’s most famous pharaohs.

Meanwhile, many are hoping that the statue could provide a much-needed boost to Egypt’s tourist industry. Ever since the political upheaval that saw president Hosni Mubarak ousted from power in 2011, visitor numbers in the region have plummeted. So will Ramses II step in to help his people one last time? Only time will tell — especially since we're still learning so much about these ancient kings.

The mummified remains of Egypt's elite are among the best clues we have as to their ways of life, and one 2019 find completely rewrote the history books. Though he wasn't a pharaoh like Ramses II, a man named Khuwy had a tomb that baffled even the most learned modern experts.

Khuwy was an Egyptian nobleman who lived about 4,000 years ago during the Old Kingdom era. This section of Egyptian history is known for the rise of pyramid building, a practice which started with King Djoser. To prepare for his death, he hired the architect Imhotep for an important purpose.

Imhotep took the king’s assignment very seriously and returned with the design of an enormous building suitable for an Egyptian royal’s resting place. What the architect didn’t realize, though, was how big an impact his work would go on to have. On the king’s orders, Imhotep had designed the Step-Pyramid at Saqqara.

After Imhotep’s Step-Pyramid, Egypt’s ruling class wanted more funerary monuments — so designers and builders got busy. This led to, among other things, the creation of the Great Pyramid at Giza. A Greek historian by the name of Herodotus believed the construction must have taken around 20 years and the work of some 100,000 individuals.

During this time of building beautiful graves for their rulers, the Old Kingdom became dotted with pyramids. This included an entire compound outside of Cairo, which was the Saqqara necropolis. It was within this very complex that Khuwy was laid to rest. His tomb was filled with ceramics and specially painted wall designs.

These hieroglyphs explained that Khuwy was buried in the Fifth Dynasty. This means he may have possibly been related to that era’s pharaoh, who was called Djedkare Isesi. Images painted in colors associated with royalty and the shape of Khuwy’s tomb are major evidence of this potential relationship.

Djedkare was the eighth king during the fifth Egyptian dynasty. The reason historians are aware of him and other ancient figureheads is because of the Turin Canon. This papyrus includes details about every king’s time in power. The scribes even had the length of their rule listed to the day.

The Turin Canon is missing some information, since it’s such an ancient document and in rough shape. But the details that remain are integral for historians studying Egyptian history. From this source, we know King Djedkare ruled Egypt after King Menkauhor. He was in power for between 28 and 40 years.

Researchers don’t have an exact time range due to discrepancies in other Egyptian record-keeping artifacts. Djedkare isn’t one of the more well-known kings, but he still made his mark on the region. What set him apart was his interest in the god Osiris. At the time, kings were worshipping Ra.

Ra had power over all other deities and was associated with the sun. Osiris, on the other hand, was largely linked to death. He was believed to be in control of “underworld” life processes, which included the growing of crops and flooding. Osiris appealed to King Djedkare.

The king was supposed to oversee construction of a temple for Ra, but he wasn’t interested in honoring the sun god. He had another idea. Instead of Ra’s sacred site, Djedkare ordered a new pyramid for himself in Saqqara. The final product was “Nefer Djedkare,” which translates to English as “perfect Djedkare.”

It was within this necropolis and one king’s monument to his own perfection that Khuwy was buried. A group of researchers uncovered his mummified body in 2019. And when they exhumed the nobleman from his tomb, the team found something extraordinary: Khuwy wasn’t an ordinary Old Kingdom mummy.

Salima Ikram is an Egyptologist from the American University in Cairo who was part of the group that uncovered Khuwy’s tomb. She spoke to Smithsonian magazine in October 2021, reflecting on the discovery. She said, “Until now, we had thought that Old Kingdom mummification was relatively simple, with basic desiccation — not always successful — no removal of the brain, and only occasional removal of the internal organs.”

Before their examination of Khuwy, Egyptologists believed Old Kingdom coroners were more concerned about the appearance of the outside of a mummy compared to how the person was internally preserved. When the team studied Khuwy, though, they realized this long-held belief may be wrong. These mummification methods were much older than anyone knew.

The evidence was in Khuwy’s linen wrappings. “It’s extraordinary,” Ikram said. “The only time I’ve [seen] so much of this kind of good quality linen has been in the 21st dynasty.” This would have taken place 1,000 years after Khuwy’s death. Apparently, Egyptian coroners invented high-quality mummification before then.

Like mummies of a later era, Khuwy’s body was preserved with tree sap resin, which worked remarkably well for embalming. Then, his resin-covered skin was wrapped in the fancy linen wrappings that excited Ikram’s team. But even after the examination of Khuwy’s corpse, the researchers weren’t completely comfortable confirming their discovery.

The grave may have originally belonged to Khuwy, but his body could have been replaced with that of a different nobleman. Expressing this skepticism, Ikram said, “I remain hesitant until we can conduct carbon-14 dating... If this is indeed the mummy of Khuwy, this will truly be a unique discovery that dramatically shifts our understanding of the history of the Old Kingdom.”

The mummy’s carbon-14 dating should take about six months to finish. If the results prove that the embalmed body in the tomb actually is Khuwy's, it would be a massive find for the archaeologists. Besides confirming the age of advanced mummification, this would also change the previous understanding of early Egyptian trading.

While she’s awaiting more information, Ikram remains excited about the possibility of Khuwy being an Old Kingdom mummy. She said, “This would completely turn our understanding of the evolution of mummification on its head. The materials used, their origins, and the trade routes associated with them will dramatically impact our understanding of Old Kingdom Egypt."