5 ms·
Found: A Colossal Statue of Ramses II Hiding Under a Cairo Street
- tradersam 10y agoPretty cool. I feel like it needs more than 2 pictures about the find, though.
- Macsenour 10y agoI agree, this felt like "Breaking News" to be followed by a much longer report later. Let's hope that happens.
- Luc 10y agoHere's a few dozen: http://www.gettyimages.se/search/events/700018243?assettype=image&excludenudity=false&family=editorial&sort=best&phrase=#license http://www.gettyimages.se/search/events/700018243?assettype=...
- tradersam 10y agoThanks!
- cyberferret 10y agoAnd I am relieved to realise that the second pic is NOT in fact a picture of his upturned butt in sitting position, but of his chest and arm...
- acomjean 10y ago"think it depicts Ramses II, Ozyamandias, the Great Ancestor—one of Egypt’s most famous and celebrated pharaohs." I was wondering if the Shelley Poem about Ozymandias was about this guy [1]. Except the sonnet talks about finding the civilization remains in the desert vs under a road. ...And on the pedestal these words appear: 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozymandias https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozymandias
- moomin 10y agoThis is way cool, and will undoubtedly make for a great exhibit. But an important find? Unlikely. We know a _lot_ about Rameses 2, we've even got a fair few giant statues of him (even bigger than this one).
- dominotw 10y agoI think its in their interest to hype up every discovery to boost tourism which has taken a hit past couple of years. You are right, I've read around 5 articles about this today but not a single one mentins what makes this find particularly remarkable.
- swombat 10y agoEven violent authoritarian dictatorships need some foreign income from time to time...
- sizzzzlerz 10y agoIt makes you wonder what else is buried beneath the streets of cities built on top of ancient ruins. Cairo, Alexandria, Rome, Mexico City, Athens. Cool stuff, if you ask me.
- mytec 10y agoThere was a TV series on the History channel that explored the subterranean environment and culture beneath various civilizations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cities_of_the_Underworld https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cities_of_the_Underworld
- wlll 10y agoThere was also a BBC series that used laser scanning to develop underground maps of some areas, including ISTR parts of Rome.
- Finnucane 10y agoIn most of those places you can't put a spade in the ground without hitting some artifact. Archaeologists have to be on call during construction projects.
- jacquesm 10y agohttp://www.livescience.com/41559-rome-quarry-collapse.html http://www.livescience.com/41559-rome-quarry-collapse.html
- toyg 10y agoIf you ask contemporary Romans, for a lot of people it's just a huge hassle. It slows down economic activity of all sorts - every time you dig, stuff comes up, work is stopped, and lengthy procedures are started to assess what's there etc etc... This, of course, if you are honest and have time to spare. Less scrupulous individuals will simply loot what they can and keep digging, or even smash everything to bits before anyone can notice. Rome has one of the most underdeveloped subways among major capitals, simply because digging anything is very difficult: as the article mentions, soil is quite peculiar over there, and technically it's a city built over several hills. Add the archeological element, and you might as well give up.
- jbreckmckye 10y agoI met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal these words appear: 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings. Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.
- Zuider 10y agoA photo of the scene this poem describes: https://images.rapgenius.com/64983b09fb243b2e65d57134773315db.450x281x1.jpg https://images.rapgenius.com/64983b09fb243b2e65d57134773315d...
- Luc 10y agoI'm not a sculptor but I'm pretty sure those legs never carried that massive head. In fact I can tell by the pixels etc. etc. Wikipedia has a different story, where he was inspired by the news of the imminent arrival of this (without seeing it): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozymandias#/media/File:Statue_of_Ramesses_II_at_the_British_Museum.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozymandias#/media/File:Statue_...
- Zuider 10y agoThe legs probably came from a sitting statue like this: https://english-303-final.wikispaces.com/Historical+Content+%26+Historical+Context+in+Ozymandias https://english-303-final.wikispaces.com/Historical+Content+... While it is true that Shelley was motivated to write the poem by the imminent arrival in London of the Younger Memnon statue, the scene that the poem describes is not consistent with that particular statue (which consists of an upper torso) rather than a separate head and trunkless legs located in its original desert setting.
- lsiebert 10y ago
- itissid 10y agoI went to Egypt in 2015 its sad that the country is suffering due to instability region. Was sad because for a large part of the country(especially south of Cairo) the soul source of income was tourism which was dwindling. I also learnt that when the Temple of Luxor was excavated a lot of people were upset because they were evicted from where they lived. Such discoveries can upset people's livelihood. So, I sort of hope they don't find a temple there...:)
- Ericson2314 10y agoThe country is also suffering because of its state, whose ongoing policies (unlike it's recent history) is not a function of regional events.
- coldtea 10y agoIn pop culture, you might recall that Ozymandias was the name of the S05 finale of Breaking Bad (spoiler ahead). It too, shows the decline of Walter's empire, and in the final scenes, he falls down on his side in the desert in a scene like the one in the poem ("The lone and level sands stretch far away").
- settsu 10y agoI appreciate that Atlas Obscura delivers truly interesting topical content almost entirely without affect or hyperbole. The contrast against much of the writing found online in the past few years is striking—and refreshing.