2024-05-01 15:00:38
Egypt announced the recovery of the “head of the statue” of the most famous and powerful pharaoh throughout the era of the Egyptian Empire, “King Ramses II.”
The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities said: “Egypt received the “head of a statue” of King Ramses II dating back more than 3,400 years after it was stolen and smuggled out of the country more than three decades ago.”
The ministry added in a statement: “As soon as this piece was received, it was deposited in the warehouses of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo in preparation for carrying out the necessary maintenance and restoration work before displaying it.”
The Ministry of Antiquities said: “The Egyptian authorities spotted the artifact while it was being displayed for sale in one of the showrooms in the British capital, London, in 2013, and then it moved between several countries until it reached Switzerland.”
The ministry indicated that “Egypt, in cooperation with the Swiss authorities, succeeded in proving its right to this piece and that it left the country illegally, as Switzerland handed the piece over to the Egyptian ambassador in Bern, Wael Gad, in July 2023.”
This was the “head of the statue,” stolen from the Temple of Ramesses II in the ancient city of Abydos in southern Egypt more than three decades ago.
Director General of the General Administration for the Recovery of Antiquities and Supervisor of the Central Administration for Archaeological Ports, Shaaban Abdel Jawad, indicated that “estimates indicate that the piece was stolen in the late 1980s or early 1990s.”
Ramses II, also known as “Ramses the Great,” was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled from 1279 BC to 1213 BC, and is considered the most famous and powerful pharaoh throughout the Egyptian Empire.
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2024-05-01 15:00:38