US EditionNetherlands to Return 3,500-Year-Old Sculpture Stolen from Egypt
The 3,500-year-old sculpture, linked to Pharaoh Thutmose III, was found at a 2022 Maastricht art fair and will be returned by year-end, Dutch officials said.
- On Sunday, Dutch Caretaker Prime Minister Dick Schoof pledged the Netherlands will return a 3,500-year-old stone head to Egypt at the Grand Egyptian Museum opening.
- Inspectorate findings show the Dutch Information & Heritage Inspectorate says it is "highly likely" the stone head was plundered during the Arab Spring and surfaced at The European Fine Art Foundation fair, Maastricht, in 2022.
- Following an anonymous tip-off, Dutch authorities determined the sculpted head, believed to depict a high-ranking official from Pharaoh Thutmose III, was stolen and exported illegally, and the dealer relinquished it.
- The government expects to hand the stone head to the Egyptian ambassador to the Netherlands at the end of this year, affirming the Netherlands' commitment to returning heritage to original owners.
- With 100,000 artefacts, the Grand Egyptian Museum, first proposed in 1992 and costing around $1.2bn, reflects national heritage while prominent Egyptologists hope it will boost repatriation demands.
41 Articles
41 Articles
While the Grand Egyptian Museum has just opened its doors, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof announced that the country will return a 3,500-year-old sculpture to Egypt. ...
Netherlands says it will return stolen 3,500-year-old sculpture to Egypt after Grand Egyptian Museum opening
A day after attending the opening ceremony of the Grand Egyptian Museum, the leader of the Netherlands said an ancient statue discovered at an art fair would be returned.
The 3,500-year-old stone head was probably stolen during the Arab Spring, large protests in Egypt and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
Dutch Prime Minister Announces Repatriation of Ancient Egyptian Bust
The Netherlands has announced on Sunday 2 November its decision to return a 3,500-year-old stone bust to Egypt, a significant artifact from the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose III. This announcement was made by Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof during his visit for GEM to Cairo, where he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. The sculpture, believed to have been stolen and illegally exported during the unrest of the 2011 Arab Spring, was co…
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