By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The Netherlands will return a 3,500-year-old artefact that was sighted at a Dutch art fair to Egypt, Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on Sunday during a visit to the country, where he met with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
The artefact in question, which depicts a senior official from the 1479–1425 BC reign of Pharaoh Thutmose III, is believed to have been stolen and illegally exported Netherlands, most likely during the unrest of the 2011 Arab Spring, before it made its way to the international art market.
The “historic cultural artifact (was) confiscated at a Dutch art fair” in Maastricht in 2022, Schoof said, after someone anonymously tipped off the authorities about its illicit origin.
An investigation by Dutch police and the cultural heritage inspectorate confirmed that the sculpture had been illegally removed from Egyptian soil. The dealer who had the piece voluntarily surrendered it following the inquiry.
The Dutch government said they expect to hand over the artefact to the Egyptian ambassador in the Netherlands by the end of this year, although no specific date has been set.
Discussions by the two leaders also covered the Gaza peace plan and an international reconstruction conference co-hosted by the Netherlands
