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A joint Egyptian-U.S. archaeological mission has uncovered the upper part of a huge statue of King Ramses II during excavations south of the Egyptian city of Minya, Egypt's tourism and antiquities ministry said on Monday.The limestone block is about 3.8 metres (12.5 feet) high and depicts a seated Ramses wearing a double crown and a headdress topped with a royal cobra, Bassem Jihad, head of the mission's Egyptian team, said in a statement.The upper part of the statue's back column shows hieroglyphic writings that glorify the king, one of ancient Egypt's most powerful pharaohs, he said.Also known as Ramses the...

The mummified remains of ancient Egypt's most powerful pharaoh have been used to reveal what he would have looked like at the height of his powers. Ramessess II's "handsome" face can be seen for the first time in 3,200 years thanks to the new scientific reconstruction. Using a 3D model of his skull to rebuild his features, scientists from Egypt and England initially worked together to create the pharaoh’s likeness when he died around 90 years old. They then reversed the ageing process...

CAIRO (Reuters) - A massive statue of one of Egypt's greatest pharaohs, Ramses II, rolled through the streets of Cairo to a new home near the Pyramids on Friday to escape the corrosive pollution of its former spot in a crowded transit hub. Tens of thousands of people lined the streets to bid farewell to the 3,200-year-old red granite statue, which weighs 83 tons and was wrapped in plastic and thick padding for the painstakingly slow 35 km (21 mile) journey, which took 10 hours. Only the face was visible. "We are going to miss you. Cairo will never be...

Queen Nefertari, whose name means “beautiful companion”, was one of Ramses II’s eight royal wives and his most beloved one. Although Nefertari’s family background is unknown, the discovery of an inscription of the cartouche of the pharaoh Ay inside her tomb has led archaeologists to speculate that she was related to him. If any relation exists, she could be his great-granddaughter because of the time between the reign of Ay and Ramses II in Ancient Egyptian history. Until now no decisive archaeological evidence has been found to link Nefertari to the royal family of the 18th Dynasty. Nefertari married Ramses...

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...

In the new movie, Exodus, director Ridley Scott decided to directly contravene possibly the most basic tenet of Judaism: that God is One and cannot be anthropomorphized. In the famous scene in which Moses stands near the burning bush and hears God talking to him, Scott decided to take liberties with the Biblical text and have an eleven-year-old boy, called Malak, stand near the bush and articulate the voice of God. Scott’s excuse for violating the sacred text? As he said to The Hollywood Reporter: "Sacred texts give no specific depiction of God, so for centuries artists and filmmakers have had to...

The hashtag #boycottexodusmovie has been trending on Twitter as posters express there anger over the film's casting of white actors as Egyptians Director Ridley Scott has been bullish about the issue of casting and said it was a business decision to hire white actors He claimed he wouldn't get financing if he hired 'Mohammad so-and-so from such-and-such' The cast does includes a number of actors of color, although it is mainly in minors roles including as servants. Sir Ridley Scott has found himself embroiled in a race row after his latest film was branded ‘too white’. Twitter users are urging...

Christian Bale has said drones would be sent out after biblical character Moses had he been real and alive today. Bale, who plays Moses in Exodus: Of Gods and Kings, the forthcoming biblical epic directed by Ridley Scott, added that although Moses is depicted as a freedom fighter in the Bible, he is seen as a 'terrorist' by his enemies. The says he came to these conclusions while studying religious books and scriptures from different religions, including the Bible, the Torah and the Koran. Christian Bale said drones would be sent after 'terrorist' Moses had the character been real and...

Christian writer Brian Godawa dismissed recent comments made by actor Christian Bale characterizing the biblical Moses as "schizophrenic" and "barbaric" as ignorant bigotry. Bale plays Moses in the upcoming Ridley Scott film, "Exodus: Gods and Kings," which uses hi-tech visual effects to tell the story of how Moses frees 400,000 slaves from Egypt. It is slated for release in December. The Christian Post reported Sunday that Bale told a group of international reporters at the Four Seasons hotel in Los Angeles last month that Moses was mentally unbalanced. "I think the man was likely schizophrenic and was one of the...

Christian Bale has some novel interpretations of Moses, whom he portrays in the upcoming "Exodus: God and Kings." "I think the man was likely schizophrenic and was one of the most barbaric individuals that I ever read about in my life," Bale said. Hard on the heels of Noah, which took great liberties with the biblical tale, Exodus is drawing criticism from Christian websites.

The remains of a colossal seated statue of Ramses II, thought to be about 13 metres tall and weighing 700 tons, have been discovered in a shanty area of the Upper Egyptian city of Akhmim, adjacent to the open-air museum. The lower part of the limestone statue is seated on a throne, to the right and left of which are figures of two of the pharaoh's daughters and princess- queens, Merit-Amun and Bint-Anath. The statue and the throne are carved from a single block and stand on a huge limestone base covered with carved hieroglyphic texts.

Last Update: Saturday, September 27, 2003. 4:26pm (AEST)13th Century tablet could lead to lost archives of Ramses II The discovery of a stone tablet detailing diplomatic ties between the ancient Egyptians and Hittites in the 13th Century BC could be the key to the lost archives of Ramses II, according to archaeologists. Discovered at Qantir 120 kilometres north-east of Cairo, the tablet dates back to the time of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Ramses II (1298-1235 BC) and confirms his capital, Pi-Ramses, was in the Nile Delta. "Its the first time that such a written record has been found in the...

The finding challenges a previous diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis (A.S), a condition by which some or all of the joints and bones of the spine fuse together. That would have meant that the pharaoh spent most of his life in pain, feeling feverish and experiencing night sweats... The third king of Egypt's 19th dynasty, Ramesses ruled for 67 years (1279-1212 B.C.). During his long reign, Ramesses build more temples and monuments, took more wives — his favorite was the beautiful Nefertari — and produced more children — as many as 162, according some accounts — than any other pharaoh... "Ankylosing...

Rupert Murdoch took to Twitter tonight to defend 20th Century Fox's new movie "Exodus" that casts Christian Bale as Moses, and a variety of white actors as Egyptians. There’s been scuffle on Twitter ever since Murdoch made his observations. And a lot of this stems from a quote director Ridley Scott gave Variety about why he didn’t use Egyptian or Arab actors for the film. He said: "I can’t mount a film of this budget, where I have to rely on tax rebates in Spain, and say that my lead actor is Mohammad so-and-so from such-and-such," Scott says. "I'm just...