Updated March 14, 2017 12:57:03

The three-tonne torso of a massive statue that may be of one of Egypt's most famous pharaohs has been lifted from mud and groundwater where it was recently discovered in a Cairo suburb.

The torso was pulled by a crane, as dozens of workers supported it while being moved to dry land, where it was covered by a white fabric.

The first part of the colossus — a large portion of the head — was pulled up last Thursday.

Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities said the statue's parts would be assembled at the Egyptian museum in central Cairo, where they would be pieced together and restored, before being moved to the yet-to-open Grand Egyptian Museum near the Giza Pyramids.

Photo: The massive statue is believed to be of Ramses II. (AP: Amr Nabil)

The statue is likely of Ramses II, who took the throne in his early 20s and ruled Egypt for 60 years more than 3,000 years ago.

He is credited with expanding ancient Egypt's reach as far as modern Syria to the east and modern Sudan to the south.

The expansion earned him the title "Ramses the Great".

The statue was discovered last week by a German-Egyptian archaeological team in the Cairo district of Matariya.

AP

Topics: archaeology, history, art-history, egypt

First posted March 14, 2017 11:06:52