Egypt to retrieve ancient statue from Netherlands

African Echo

DISCOVERED in Saqara in 1985, stolen then auctioned, an ancient funerary statue “could finally go home to Egypt where it belongs,” according to the Cairo government. A recently found, precious “ushabti”, a funerary figurine that was placed in tombs among the grave goods and intended to act as substitutes for the deceased, dating back to ancient Egypt’s 19th Dynasty has caught Dutch and Egyptian culture authorities by surprise.

The around 4000 years old figurine was identified when a collector, who had bought the statue, having no background about the heist, showed it to experts at a museum in Lyden, the Netherlands, in 2006. It was only then that the amateur collector knew what he had in possession; an 8.8 cm statue of a woman made of pottery that was unearthed some 27 years ago, except that it has never been on display at any museum. “All parties concerned agreed that they should return the piece to Egypt,” according to Egyptian authorities.