Archaeologists uncover massive artifact depicting pharaoh thought to have challenged Moses in Exodus

The statue was found at the Tel Pharaoh site in Husseiniya Center, Sharqia Governorate, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said on April 22. The site is in Egypt's Nile Delta, northeast of Cairo.

Officials also described the statue as "remarkable" in size, weighing between 5 and 6 tons and measuring over 7 feet long.

In a translated statement, the ministry described the statue as being in a "relatively poor condition of preservation," with its legs and base missing.

Still, officials described the statue as "likely represent[ing] King Ramses II."

Ramesses II is said to have retaliated against Moses and refused his requests, which resulted in a series of plagues. He died in 1213 B.C.

Egyptian antiquities official Mohamed Abdel Badie said the statue was likely moved in ancient times and reused at the site.

The statement also described the statue as "one of the important archaeological pieces of evidence that shed light on aspects of religious and royal activity in the eastern Delta region."

"As part of efforts to preserve this discovery, the statue was immediately transferred upon its discovery from within the temple complex at the site to the museum storage facility in the San El-Hagar area," the statement noted.

The move was "in preparation for the start of precise and urgent restoration work, in accordance with the highest scientific standards followed in the conservation and preservation of antiquities."