The two seated lions adorned water spouts used as part of the drainage system from the roof of the Ptolemaic-era temple in Egypt's Fayyum region, south of Cairo.

"The (Italian) delegation discovered two statues carved from sandstone.

This find is the first discovery of statues of their kind used to adorn water spouts," said Antiquities Minister Mohammed Ibrahim.

The head of the Italian team from Salento university, Mario Capasso, said the statues almost a metre (yard) wide and a metre high were "complete" and in "well-preserved condition, with intricately carved faces.