Stolen 3 400-year-old statue returns to Egypt
Written by on April 22, 2024
An Egyptian statue more than 3 000 years old has arrived back home, after three decades since it was stolen and smuggled out of the country.
The statue depicts the head of the ancient Egyptian King Ramses II, who was one of Egypt’s most powerful rulers.
It is “part of a mass statue depicting King Ramses II seated next to a number of Egyptian gods,” the ministry of tourism and antiquities said on Sunday.
The artefact, which dates back to more than 3,400 years, was taken from the Ramses II temple in the ancient city of Abydos.
Egyptian authorities took note of it in 2013, when it went up for sale at a gallery in London.
The statue was then moved to several countries until it reached Switzerland, where it was reclaimed in collaboration with Swiss authorities.
The antiquities ministry said Egypt proved that it had the rights to the piece and that the artefact left its borders illegally.
The statue will undergo restoration and maintenance at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.— BBC
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