Colossal head discovered in Egypt that could be Queen Nefertari

AFP | 3/28/02

[kattracks]

CAIRO, March 28 (AFP) - Egyptian and German archeologists have discovered the head of a colossal statue which could be an image of Nefertari, the queen of Pharaoh Ramses II, a senior antiquities official said Thursday.

The head, discovered in the Nile Delta region of Tel Basta, could also belong to her daughter Princess Merit-Amon, the official said.

"The head, in granite, stands 3.5 meters (about 11 feet) high and is 3 meters (about 10 feet) wide, and weighs more than 11 tons," the director of antiquities for the Delta, Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud, told AFP.

"These measurements mean that the statue measured more than 16 meters (about 52 feet) in height, which would make it the largest discovered in the Delta region," added Maqsoud, comparing it to the famous colossi of Ramses II in the temple of Abu Simbel in Egypt's far south which stands 23 meters (about 75 feet) in height.

Ramses II was the most famous pharaoh of the 19th dynasty and numerous monuments glorifying himself and his favorite wife, Nefertari, were erected during his 63-year reign from 1298 to 1235 BC.

"The statue is of a queen wearing a long wig and whose head is surmounted by a crown carrying in front the heads of goddesses Nekhbet and Maat," said Zahi Hawass, secretary general of the Supreme Council for Antiquities.

"The statue still carries traces of blue on the wig and red in the face," he said.

Hawass said the statue was probably broken up during the Roman period and the stone used in construction work.

[Ward Smythe]

It's the Big Giant Head!

[afraidfortherepublic]

Courtesy ping!

[11th Earl of Mar]

Colossal head from a queen?

Any trips abroad for Hillary lately?

[blam]

Thanks for the ping. I'm suprized no picture and I couldn't find this reported anywhere else.

[blam]

FYI.

[RightWhale]

Lack of a photo isn't all that important in this case. Interesting some of the paint is still on it. I wonder if the Sphinx was painted during at least one of its Pharaonical incarnations; any trace of paint chips would have been cleared out of the area when they meticulously cleaned out the dust and sand from around the base.

[LostTribe]

According to the "early" theory, this would be about 200 years after the Israelites hauled a$$ out of the country in search of friendlier territory.

[Neets]

I seem to remember loosing my head a while ago....

[blam]

Horus And Nefertari

[blam]

"According to the "early" theory, this would be about 200 years after the Israelites hauled a$$ out of the country in search of friendlier territory."

Yup. About 400 years later by my reckoning (1628BC). (smile)

[Focault's Pendulum]

FYI.

Thanks. I appreciate it.

[Focault's Pendulum]

I seem to remember loosing my head a while ago....

When I first read the title, I thought it was going to be about Neil Cavuto's ancestors

[LostTribe]

>Yup. About 400 years later by my reckoning (1628BC). (smile)

There you go, talking about that BIG volcanic eruption again. {ggg}. Well I wasn't very clear in which one I was talking about, so you are probably right if you are referencing the EXODUS BY SEA of the Tribe of Dan and parts of Asher and Judah, which did take place perhaps 200 years before the EXODUS BY LAND.

(Experts disagree, with good "early theory" and "late theory" dates for the Exodus by Land, but that doesn't effect what happened to the Northern Tribes aka The Lost Tribes of Israel. Since these ~5 MILLION non-Jewish Israelites were captured and hauled off by the Assyrians ~721 BC, their Exodus and subsequent Diaspora are unaffected by either overland date.)

[riley1992]

I seem to remember loosing my head a while ago....

Is this it?

[Neets]

Damn I been missin them green glasses....such Pinache.

[poweqi]

Yes it was painted. Saw it on TLC. Magnificently computer generated.For a long time they thought the nose was shot off by Neapolians soldiers but they discovered that it was actually chisled off. By whom? Nobody knows.They also think it is much older than anyone thought.

[RightWhale]

It's old for sure. Originally it was probably an outcropping like a yarddang, some of which are very sphinx-like naturally. The head is clearly [to me anyway] chopped down from an older head. Ihe present head is very small in proportion to the lion body. The neck also looks to be chopped away from an older sloping animal neck to make it appear more humanlike.

[riley1992]

Ain't they just the cat's pajamas, sister?

[poweqi]

That very well could be, when a new Pharaoh took over it's logical that he would utilize what was already there. Over time it couldn't help being chisheled away to make a new image. Some beleive that the stone was already there and cut into an image, more evidence to prove it's much older is the water marks obviously made during a much wetter time.