The Egyptian Embassy in The Hague, Netherlands, received a statue of ushabti, part of a colored coffin, and a mummy head from the Late Period, which investigations proved were taken out of Egypt illegally as a result of secret excavation and not from any museum, warehouse, or archaeological site.
The recovery and delivery of these pieces comes within the framework of the Egyptian state’s efforts to recover Egyptian antiquities smuggled abroad and the great interest the Egyptian state and its institutions pay to preserving its heritage and cultural history, and the role played by the Egyptian Ministries of Tourism and Antiquities and Foreign Affairs and the Egyptian Attorney General’s Office in the field of recovering smuggled Egyptian antiquities, and within the framework of bilateral cooperation between Egypt and the Netherlands, in addition to the great support provided by the Dutch authorities to ensure the return of these pieces to their original homeland.
Dr. Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, indicated that these pieces were seized inside an antiquities and antiques store in the Netherlands, where the Dutch authorities, in cooperation with the Egyptian authorities, conducted the necessary investigations, which led to Egypt receiving These pieces and their return to the homeland, stressing that this event is an achievement added to the record of unprecedented achievements in the Egyptian-Dutch bilateral relations in combating the illegal trafficking of cultural property and smuggling of antiquities, as cultural heritage represents a common legacy for all of humanity.
Shaaban Abdel Gawad, Director General of the General Administration for the Retrieval of Antiquities and Supervisor of the Central Administration for Archaeological Ports, explained that the recovered pieces date back to the late era and include a statue of ushabti made of blue porcelain with some inscriptions of the deceased’s titles, part of a wooden coffin decorated with inscriptions of the protective goddess Isis on her head with the distinctive chair sign, and a mummy’s head in a good state of preservation showing the remains of teeth and hair.
It is worth noting that Egypt has succeeded in retrieving more than 30,000 artifacts from 2014 until now.
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