CAIRO - Egyptian archaeologists have found a giant, eight-meter-long statue in Cairo believed to portray Pharaoh Ramses, al Ahram reports. Besides the giant statue, another one representing Seti II was also found in an area near the temple of Ramses II where the ancient Heliopolis was located.

The two statues date back to the XIX dynasty, the Egyptian antiquity ministry said, reporting that the discovery was made by a German-Egyptian archaeological mission in the district of Matareya. The statue that should portray Ramses II was ''broken in large pieces'' and was made of quartzite, the website Egypt Independent said, referring to the type of rock composed almost exclusively of granular quartz. Only ''part of the head, an ear and an eye'' and the crown emerged, it added, quoting the head of the Egyptian antiquities department of the ministry, Mahmud Afifi. The statue of Seti II, of which 80 cm were found, ''is of natural size.

The discovery was ''one of the most important'' among ''recent'' ones, the website said, summing up statements of the Egyptian mission chief, professor Ayman al-Ashmawy, during the announcement made yesterday. The temple of Ramses ''is one of the largest of ancient Egypt given that it reached twice the dimensions of the temple of Karnak in Luxor'', it added.