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Egyptian minister of antiquates Khaled el-Anani poses for picture with workers next to the head of a statue at the site of a new discovery by a team of German-Egyptian archeologists in Cairo's Mattarya district. Statues of the kings and queens of the nineteenth dynasty (1295 - 1185 BC) were unearthed in the vicinity of the Temple of Ramses II in what was the old Pharonic city. Image Credit: AFP

Cairo: Archeologists in Egypt have discovered a massive statue in a Cairo slum 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) high and was discovered by a German-Egyptian team.

Ramses II ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago and was a great builder whose effigy can be seen at a string of archaeological sites across the country.

Massive statues of the warrior-king can be seen in Luxor, and his most famous monument is found in Abu Simbel, near Sudan.