Massive statue of Egyptian ruler discovered in Cairo slum

A boy rides his his bicycle past a recently discovered statue in a Cairo slum that may be of pharaoh Ramses II, in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, March 10, 2017. Archeologists in Egypt have discovered a massive statue that may be of pharaoh Ramses II, one of the country's most famous ancient rulers. The colossus, whose head was pulled from mud and groundwater by a bulldozer on Thursday, is around eight meters (yards) tall and was discovered by a German-Egyptian team. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) (Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

A massive statue found in a Cairo slum is probably of pharaoh Ramses II, who ruled Egypt 3,000 years ago.

Archaeologists came across the eight-metre statue in ground water in the eastern part of modern-day Cairo last week.

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The Egyptian Antiquities Ministry is calling the find, made near the ruins of Ramses II's temple in the ancient city of Heliopolis, one of the most important discoveries ever.

People gather near water which covered the site of a recently discovered statue in a Cairo slum that may be of pharaoh Ramses II, in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, March 10, 2017. (Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

"Last Tuesday they called me to announce the big discovery of a colossus of a king, most probably Ramses II, made out of quartzite," said antiquities minister Khaled al-Anani, who posed for pictures with the find.

The most powerful and celebrated ruler of ancient Egypt, the pharaoh also known as Ramses the Great was the third of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt and ruled from 1279 to 1213 BC.

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Ramses led several military expeditions and expanded the Egyptian empire to stretch from Syria in the east to Nubia in the south.

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