THE HAGUE: The Netherlands on Thursday returned a 3,500-year-old sculpture to Egypt after the looted artefact resurfaced at a Dutch art fair in 2022.
An investigation by Dutch police and cultural heritage inspectorate confirmed in 2025 the sculpture had been plundered and unlawfully removed from Egypt, most likely during the Arab Spring unrest of 2011, before appearing on the international art market.
Experts believe the artefact, a stone head that was originally part of a block statue, originated from Luxor in southern Egypt. It depicts a senior official from the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose III (1479–1425 BC).
It was confiscated in 2022 at an art fair in the Dutch city of Maastricht. Art dealer Sycomore Ancient Art, which had acquired the piece but had doubts about its provenance, voluntarily surrendered it following the inquiry.
“Our policy is to return what doesn’t belong to us and to return it always to the rightful cultural group or country,” Dutch Culture Minister Gouke Moes said in handing over the artefact to the Egyptian ambassador.
Egyptian Ambassador Emad Hanna said his country tracks artefacts that appear in exhibitions or auctions.
“It means a lot to us when it comes to tourism and economy, because at the end of the day, when tourists come to Egypt to see these things, it definitely makes a difference,” Hanna said.
Egypt’s plans to display the sculpture were not yet clear.
Netherlands returns 3,500-year-old looted sculpture to Egypt
https://arab.news/b58x4
Netherlands returns 3,500-year-old looted sculpture to Egypt
- Experts believe the artefact, a stone head that was originally part of a block statue, originated from Luxor in southern Egypt
UN warns 200,000 more Afghan children face acute malnutrition in 2026
- “The onus is on the forces that carried out the attack to investigate it,” Shamdasani said
- “The essence of the destruction, despair and senselessness and cruelty of this conflict“
GENEVA: The UN human rights office on Tuesday urged what it called the forces behind a deadly attack on a girls’ school in Iran to investigate and share insights into the incident, without saying who it believed was responsible.
“The High Commissioner (Volker Turk) calls for a prompt, impartial and thorough investigation into the circumstances of the attack. The onus is on the forces that carried out the attack to investigate it,” UN human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told a Geneva press briefing.
“This is absolutely horrific,” Shamdasani said, adding that images circulating on social media captured “the essence of the destruction, despair and senselessness and cruelty of this conflict.”
Turk also urged all parties to exercise restraint and to return to the negotiating table, she said. The school in southern Iran was hit on Saturday, the first day of US and Israeli attacks against the country.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that US forces “would not deliberately target a school.” Israel has said it is investigating the incident.
Iran’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva Ali Bahreini had previously raised the issue with Turk in a letter dated March 1, calling the attack “unjustifiable” and “criminal.”
He said the attack had killed 150 students.
Turk’s office does not have enough information to make a determination as to whether the strike constituted a war crime, Shamdasani said.
