The UK’s Daily Mail reports on a massive statue of a pharoah, likely Ramses II (“Ra” = Solar deity, “Mses” = “son of”) discovered at the site of the ancient city of Heliopolis, this area now being a suburb of Cairo and the site of Cairo’s international airport. In part, the article notes:
“Archaeologists found the statue in the Mattarya district which is the site of the ancient capital of Heliopolis.
“The ruins of Heliopolis, which means ‘city of the sun’ in ancient Greek, are located in the north eastern part of modern-day Cairo.
“The sun temple in Heliopolis was founded by Ramses II, which increases the likelihood that the statue is him.
“Ancient Egyptians believed Heliopolis was the place where the sun god lives, meaning it was off-limits for any royal residences.
“It was one of the largest temples in Egypt, almost double the size of Luxor’s Karnak, but was destroyed in Greco-Roman times.
“Many of its obelisks were moved to Alexandria or to Europe and stones from the site were looted and used for building as Cairo developed.”
