The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced that it has recovered a part of a Pharaonic statue of King Ramses II, which had been illegally exported from the country.
The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, represented by the Supreme Council of Antiquities, received the head of a statue of King Ramses II, which had been handed over to the Egyptian Embassy in the Swiss capital, Bern, in July last year following successful efforts by the Egyptian Ministries of Tourism and Antiquities, Foreign Affairs, and other relevant authorities to track it down and recover it, as it had been illegally exported from Egypt.
Dr. Mohamed Ismail Khaled, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, explained that the recovery of this artifact is part of the continuous efforts made by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, represented by the Supreme Council of Antiquities, to recover Egyptian artifacts that have been illegally exported from Egypt. He expressed his full appreciation for the cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the International Cooperation Administration at the office of the Egyptian Attorney General, and the Swiss authorities and our embassy in Bern to recover this artifact.
On his part, Shaban Abdel Gawad, the General Director of the General Department for the Recovery of Antiquities and Supervisor of the Central Administration for Archaeological Ports, stated that the ministry had successfully recovered the statue’s head in July last year, and it was delivered to the Egyptian embassy in the Swiss capital, Bern, until it arrived in the homeland and was received by the ministry from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He noted that the recovered piece represents the head of a statue of King Ramses II, dating back over 3400 years, which had been stolen from his temple in Abydos and illegally exported from the country more than three decades ago. This head is part of a collective statue depicting King Ramses II sitting next to several Egyptian deities.
He added that upon receiving the piece, it was deposited in the stores of the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, in preparation for the necessary maintenance and restoration work.
It is worth noting that the General Department for the Recovery of Antiquities succeeded in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Swiss authorities in proving Egypt’s right to this piece, and that it had been illegally exported, in implementation of the joint cooperation agreement between Egypt and Switzerland in the field of combating the illegal trafficking of cultural properties, after the department had monitored it being offered for sale in a gallery in the British capital, London, in 2013, before it moved between several countries until it reached Switzerland.