Stela of 19th Dynasty King Ramses II discovered

CAIRO – 13 January 2018: A stela of 19th Dynasty King Ramses II was discovered by an Egyptian mission during work carried out at the San Al-Hagar archaeological site in the Sharqiya governorate.

Mostafa el-Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, announced that the stela is carved in red granite and depicts King Ramses II presenting offerings to an ancient Egyptian deity.

He recounted that although several foreign missions have worked on San Al-Hagar archaeological site it has never been extensively excavated and was neglected for some time.

“This neglect pushed the Egyptian mission and the Ministry of Antiquities to establish a comprehensive development project at the site to protect its monuments and convert the site to an open air museum,” Waziri added.

San Al-Hagar is a prominent archaeological site that houses a wide collection of temples, among which, there are temples tailor-made to the goddess Mut, the god Horus and the god Amun. Several foreign missions previously worked at San Al-Hagar because of its archeological importance.

Waadalla Abul Ela, head of the ministry's projects sector, announced that a development project started a month ago targets to establish a collection of concrete mastaba for the monumental blocks and stelae that were in the temple.

Additionally, the Egyptian-American archaeological mission from the University of Chicago uncovered an administrative complex, dating back to the late Fifth Dynasty, during excavation works carried out at Tel Edfu, according to the Ministry of Antiquities on Thursday.

Waziri said that the administrative complex is the oldest archaeological evidence found at the Tel Edfu site until now, proving that the site still has many undiscovered treasures.