3,400-year-old lost Pharaoh statue returns to Egypt
A 3,400-year-old Pharaoh statue that was stolen from Egypt and smuggled abroad, only to be discovered when it was put up for sale at an exhibition in London more than 30 years later, has been returned to Egypt. Following restoration, the artifact will be displayed to art lovers at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
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The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has announced that a 3,400-year-old statue depicting the head of Pharaoh Ramses II, which had been stolen from Egypt, has returned to the country.
It was stated that the stolen head is part of a group statue depicting Pharaoh Ramses II sitting alongside a number of Egyptian deities.
A ministry official reported that although the exact date is unknown, it is estimated that the artifact was stolen from the Ramses II temple located in the ancient city of Abydos in Southern Egypt in the late 1980s or early 1990s.
EXHIBITED IN LONDON IN 2013
According to reports by Euronews Turkish, Egyptian authorities noticed the artifact when it was put up for sale at an exhibition in London in 2013. Egypt cooperated with Swiss authorities to establish ownership of the statue.
Switzerland handed over the statue to the Egyptian Embassy in Bern last year, but Egypt was only recently able to bring the artifact back to the country. According to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the statue was moved to several other countries before reaching Switzerland.
TO BE RESTORED
The statue is currently at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo but is not on display. The ministry stated that the artifact will undergo restoration.
Ramses II, one of the most powerful pharaohs of ancient Egypt and also known as Ramses the Great, reigned as the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt from 1279 to 1213 BC.