Netherlands to return stolen ancient sculpture to Egypt

The Netherlands has said it will return a stolen 3,500-year-old sculpture to Egypt.

It is “highly likely” the stone head, dating from the time of the pharaohs, was plundered during the Arab Spring in either 2011 or 2012, according to the Dutch Information & Heritage Inspectorate.

A decade later, it turned up at an arts and antiques fair in Maastricht and, following an anonymous tip-off, Dutch authorities determined it had been stolen and exported illegally.

Dutch outgoing prime minister Dick Schoof made the pledge to hand it back as he attended the opening of the archaeological Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza this weekend.

The Dutch government said the sculpture of a high-ranking official from the dynasty of Pharaoh Thutmose III is “deeply meaningful to Egypt’s identity”.

The statue had been offered up for sale at The European Fine Art Foundation fair in 2022. The dealer voluntarily relinquished the sculpture after authorities had been tipped off about its illegal origin.

The government said it expected to hand the stone head over to the Egyptian ambassador to the Netherlands at the end of this year.

“The Netherlands is committed both nationally and internationally to ensuring the return of heritage to its original owners,” it said.

The news comes as Egypt celebrated the opening of the enormous Grand Egyptian Museum showcasing its archaeological heritage this weekend.

First proposed in 1992, the construction of the museum itself was interrupted by the Arab Spring.

Costing around $1.2bn (£910m), the facility contains 100,000 artefacts, including the entire contents of the intact tomb of the boy king Tutankhamun and his famous gold mask.

Prominent Egyptologists are hoping the museum will strengthen demands for key antiquities held in other countries to be returned.

These include the Rosetta Stone, the key to deciphering hieroglyphics, which is on display at the British Museum in London.