Updated March 17, 2017 14:19:03

A massive statue recently discovered in a Cairo slum and thought to be of famous pharaoh Ramses II may actually be of another ancient Egyptian ruler, Egypt's antiquities minister says.

Khaled el-Anani told a news conference on Thursday that the colossus discovered last week in an eastern Cairo suburb almost certainly depicts the Pharaoh Psamtek I, who ruled Egypt between 664 and 610 BC.

Mr el-Anani, speaking at the famed Egyptian museum in the heart of Cairo, said they were lucky to spot an inscription of one of Psamtek's five names on the statue.

"It's a part of the royal protocol, each pharaoh had five titles followed by five names," he said.

"We were lucky to find the second title — the Nepti title — drawn with a vulture and a cobra, followed by the name Neb Aa.

"Neb Aa means the possessor of the arm, which means the mighty."

The only pharaoh who was referred to as Neb Aa was the Pharaoh Psamtek I from the 26th Dynasty who ruled Egypt for 54 years.

Archaeologists believed the eight-metre statue was revered Pharoah Ramses II who ruled more than 3,000 years ago — about 400 years before Pharoah Psamtek.

The massive three-tonne torso of the statue was discovered near the ruins of Ramses II's temple in the ancient city of Heliopolis, located in the eastern part of modern-day Cairo.

It was pulled out by a crane with dozens of workers supporting it as it was moved to dry land. A large portion of the head was pulled up shortly after.

Parts of the statue, including the torso and partial head, had been ferried from the site to the museum early on Thursday.

AP

Topics: archaeology, history, sculpture, art-history, egypt

First posted March 17, 2017 13:34:25