The Netherlands will transfer a valuable sculpture dating back to the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose III (1479–1425 BC) to Egypt by the end of 2025, Prime Minister Dick Schoof announced on Sunday during an official meeting in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
According to Egyptian authorities, the sculpture is a statue of a high-ranking official created more than 3,400 years ago. The artefact was discovered at an art fair in the Netherlands in 2022. It is believed that the sculpture was stolen and taken abroad during the mass unrest in Egypt in 2011, during the so-called “Arab Spring.”
The decision to return the artwork was part of a joint effort by Cairo and Amsterdam to combat the illegal trade in antiquities and preserve cultural heritage. In recent years, Egypt has been actively seeking the repatriation of artefacts taken out of the country during various historical periods.
The announcement of the relic’s return coincided with the opening on November 1 in Cairo of the new Grand Egyptian Museum, also known as the Giza Museum. Construction of Africa’s largest museum complex took about 20 years. Its collection includes thousands of ancient exhibits, including treasures from the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, discovered by archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922. Among them are the famous golden funeral mask, throne and sarcophagus of the young ruler.
The returned sculpture is expected to take its rightful place in the new museum’s exhibition, becoming a symbol of co-operation between the Netherlands and Egypt in the field of cultural heritage protection.
