From theft to return; The fate of the Egyptian statue in ten years of exile!

According to BBC; The Dutch government announced that it will return a 3,500-year-old stone statue that was illegally taken out of Egypt. The historical relic, which depicts Sardis as a high-ranking official during the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose III, was stolen during the Arab Spring unrest and is now returning home after a decade. This news was announced by Deek Schoof, the resigned Prime Minister of the Netherlands, during the opening ceremony of the Great Egyptian Museum in Giza.

This valuable Sardis was found a decade after it was stolen, at an art exhibition in the Dutch city of Maastricht in 1401 (2022). After receiving an anonymous tip, Dutch authorities began an investigation and discovered that the work had been illegally exported from Egypt. The seller who owned the statue voluntarily turned it over to the authorities after learning of its illegal background.

Emphasizing that the statue is “deeply meaningful to Egypt’s identity”, the Dutch government announced its commitment to return the cultural heritage to its original owners. According to the plans, this historical work will be delivered to the Egyptian ambassador in the Netherlands by the end of this year. This statue was most likely looted during the unrest of 1390 or 1391 (2011 or 2012).

This important event coincides with the opening of the “Great Egyptian Museum” (GEM); A huge project whose construction was interrupted due to the Arab Spring. This museum was built at a cost of about 1.2 billion dollars and houses more than 100,000 ancient artifacts. One of the most important treasures of this museum is the complete collection of the tomb of the young pharaoh, Tutankhamun, and his famous golden mask.

Many leading Egyptologists hope that the opening of the museum and actions such as the statue’s return will bolster Egypt’s demands for the return of other key artefacts held in other countries. One of the most important of these works is the Rosetta Stone, which was the key to deciphering the hieroglyphic script and is now on display at the British Museum in London.