In the northern Nile Delta, at TellTellAn artificial mound formed by the accumulation of successive layers of settlement remains at the same spot, typical of the Near East. Each destruction-rebuilding event adds a stratum.→ Nabasha, the site of ancient Imet, an Egyptian archaeological mission has uncovered the fragments of a colossal statue of Ramesses II. This ruler of the 19th Dynasty (1279-1213 BCE), one of the most prolific pharaohs in monumental construction, scattered dozens of gigantic statues across Egypt and Nubia. The one at Imet, in pink Aswan granite, would have exceeded six meters in height and represents an exceptional find for the Nile Delta, a region where Ramesside monuments are often poorly preserved.

Grand Egyptian Museum with colossal statues of Ramesses II
The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), opened in 2023, now houses the world's largest collection of Ramesside statues. The Imet discovery will enrich its collections. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The head, shoulders, and part of the torso have been uncovered, allowing clear identification of the ruler through the double pschent crown and cartouches carved on the back and belt. The state of preservation is remarkable given site conditions: Tell Nabasha is located in an agricultural zone where the high water table and successive plowing have damaged many ancient remains.

Imet: a little-known divine city

Imet (also transcribed Imu or Imet) was in Antiquity the capital of the nineteenth nome of Lower Egypt, dedicated to the cobra goddess Wadjet. Its main temple was consecrated to Wadjet and Min, whose cult was associated with agricultural fertility, central to the Delta economy. Excavations conducted from the late 19th century by Flinders Petrie, the founder of modern Egyptology, had already uncovered objects from the predynasticPredynasticThe period of Egypt before unification (c. 3100 BCE) and the First Dynasty, marked by the Naqada cultures and the gradual emergence of the state.→ period and Middle Kingdom, confirming the site's antiquity.

Abu Simbel temple frontal view with colossal statues of Ramesses II
The Abu Simbel temple in Nubia, built by Ramesses II, illustrates the pharaohPharaohThe title of the ruler of ancient Egypt, regarded as a living god guaranteeing cosmic order (Maat), supreme head of state, army and worship.→'s monumental ambition. The Imet statues belong to the same program of royal glorification deployed across the empire. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Under Ramesses II, Imet experienced a period of great prosperity. Proximity to Pi-Ramesses, the new capital built in the eastern Delta, boosted the region's economy. CuneiformCuneiformThe oldest known writing, born at Uruk; its signs, impressed into clay with a reed stylus, are wedge-shaped (from Latin cuneus).→ archives found at UgaritUgaritA wealthy Bronze Age merchant city-kingdom on the Syrian coast (Ras Shamra); its cuneiform archives and alphabet make it a major source on the ancient Near East.→ (modern Syria) mention commercial exchanges transiting through Egyptian Delta ports, of which Imet likely formed part of the hinterland.

Ramesses II, the king of a thousand stone faces

Ramesses II, nicknamed "the Great" by the Arabic-speaking tradition, is the pharaoh of whom the greatest number of statues have been found across Egypt and Sudan: more than two hundred specimens identified to date, not counting usurpations of earlier monuments. This statuary inflation is not mere royal vanity: it responds to a precise theology in which the physical presence of the king, even in stone, is necessary to maintain cosmic order and ensure victory over the forces of chaos.

Colossal bust of Ramesses II at the British Museum
The colossal bust known as the "Younger Memnon" of Ramesses II, at the British Museum in London. This pink granite fragment comes from the Ramesseum at Thebes and illustrates the mastery of the royal Ramesside workshop. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The royal workshops of Ramesses II had perfected granite-carving techniques, a hard material requiring dolerite tools and extremely patient work. The Imet fragments preserve traces of red and yellow paint in hieroglyphic recesses, indicating the statue was originally polychrome, as were the vast majority of Egyptian sculptures, contrary to the monochrome image we have of them today.

A rescue excavation under pressure

The Egyptian mission is working under urgent conditions: Tell Nabasha is threatened by agricultural expansion and illegal antiquities trafficking affecting many Delta sites. Fragments of statues and reliefs from the same site had already been offered on the international art market in previous decades, some since restituted to Egypt through museum cooperation agreements.

Obelisk of Ramesses II at Tanis in the Nile Delta
Obelisk of Ramesses II at the site of Tanis (San el-Hagar), less than 80 km from Imet. The eastern Nile Delta concentrates many Ramesside remains yet to be fully explored. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

After restoration, the Imet statue will be transported to the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) at Giza, inaugurated in 2023. Its curators and the mission archaeologists hope that in-depth study of the stone, including provenance analysis by X-ray fluorescence, will identify the precise production workshop and better illuminate the granite supply networks that fed the great royal construction sites of the New Kingdom.