 In early 2017 in the city of Cairo in a heavily built-up residential area and during excavations of the ancient location of the city of Heliopolis, which is thought to have once stood here, a colossus was uncovered and became one of the biggest enigmas regarding who he was representing. Wait, do you hear this? Originally thought to have been Ramses to great until an inscription was deciphered that overwhelmingly suggested that in fact the gigantic monument was in fact the depiction of a lesser known pharaoh, a king that was thought to have achieved very little during his reign because very little is left regarding his reign and we can only name him because he is listed on the king's list as Sontique I and this colossus represented him. It was long assumed that this lesser known pharaoh had a relatively quiet kingship, reigning for just over 50 years. However, the size and scale of this monument as a lasting legacy to the king seriously suggests he was far more powerful than previously thought and this has led to the uncovering of history that was once lost and the connections allowed by this discovery are monumental and only now becoming apparent and we are going to tell you why. The huge piece is in huge chunks and accompanied by an astonishing 6000 fragments which will be pieced together in time for the state opening of the Grand Museum in 2022 at Giza. One of the researchers at the time of the discovery made the following remark about the Colossus statue when she states, the new fragments confirm that the Colossus once depicted King Sontique the first standing but it also reveals that his left arm was held in front of the body an unusual feature a very carefully carved scene on the back pillar shows the kneeling King Sontique the first in front of the creator god Atom at Heliopolis. An incredible digital rendering of the ancient statue has been recreated by all the fragments by the researchers and this reveals what part of the upper half of the statue of Sontique would look like and they are now attempting to recreate this for all to see. The discovery of this statue back in 2017 was an incredible sight to behold almost like a king from a completely different world altogether was being pulled from the ground a time lost in history and almost completely lost altogether for all time. You must consider that if this king was a great king then everything achieved during his time was destroyed by ignorance later on. That too had been for building materials but it could have been pulled by conquering armies to wipe out the traces of a once glorious empire. An empire that had long vanished when the destruction of these very ancient things began. The people who resettled there after a period of time didn't understand the importance of the past and they simply did not have the capacity in their mind or the want to understand what these things may have been representing. In ancient times it is now known that this pharaoh reunited the kingdom after a period of uncertainty. He expelled the Assyrians from Egypt and Herodotus would later write of him when he says he was one of twelve co-rulers and secured the aid of Greek mercenaries in order to become sole ruler. After an abortive rebellion by his vassals against the Assyrian ruler of Egypt in 663, Somtik was unexpectedly restored as governor of Othrabies, a city of the Nile River Delta by the Assyrian king. Later rejecting his vassals status he negotiated an alliance with Yi-Yis, the king of Lida and Asia Minor which enabled him to subdue the other Assyrian princes and vassals in the Nile Delta. He established his capital at Seys, his native city in the western delta, and proceeded to reform Egypt's government. To remove the last vestiges of the rule of the king of Kush, the African kingdom south of Egypt which had persisted after the Assyrian raid of 663, he negotiated the adoption of his daughter Nitechris by the priestess of the Theban god Aman, thus securing control over the considerable wealth of the temples. Thebes remained under its own governor and appointee of the Kushites, but Somtik installed a new official as governor of the south and also created the post of administrator of Middle Egypt. In addition he placed military garrisons along the Nile throughout Upper and Middle Egypt. The Colossus bore a strong resemblance to Ramses II, one of the most influential figures of the ancient world, who was celebrated by architectural wonder and military conquest. During his long reign the Egyptian Empire extended all the way from Sudan in the south to modern day Syria in the east. The fact that such efforts were made to memorialize this king suggests he was more influential than anyone had ever assumed. In fact, it proves that we really don't know anything at all and the patching up of history to meet a certain narrative is an incredibly dangerous practice and one we intend to try to put right given the passage of time, of course. What do you guys think about this anyway? Comments below and as always, thank you for watching.