The Netherlands has announced it will return a stolen 3,500-year-old sculpture to Egypt, UNN reports, citing the BBC.
Details
According to the Dutch Information and Heritage Inspectorate, it is “highly probable” that the stone head, dating back to the Pharaonic era, was stolen during the Arab Spring in 2011 or 2012.
Ten years later, it was discovered at an art and antiques fair in Maastricht, and following an anonymous tip, Dutch authorities determined that it had been stolen and illegally exported.
The outgoing Dutch Prime Minister, Dick Schoof, promised to return the sculpture when he attended the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum of Archaeology in Giza this weekend.
The Dutch government stated that the sculpture of a high-ranking official from the dynasty of Pharaoh Thutmose III “holds deep significance for Egypt’s identity.”
The statue was put up for sale at The European Fine Art Fair in 2022. The dealer voluntarily relinquished the sculpture after authorities became aware of its illicit origin.
The government stated that it plans to hand over the stone head to the Egyptian ambassador to the Netherlands later this year.
“The Netherlands is committed to returning heritage to its rightful owners, both nationally and internationally,” the statement said.
Addition
The creation of the Grand Egyptian Museum, first proposed in 1992, was interrupted by the Arab Spring. The museum, costing approximately $1.2 billion, houses 100,000 artifacts, including the entire contents of the tomb of the young pharaoh Tutankhamun and his famous golden mask.
Leading Egyptologists hope that the museum will strengthen demands for the return of key antiquities held in other countries. These include the Rosetta Stone – the key to deciphering hieroglyphs, displayed at the British Museum in London.
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