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Netherlands to return 3,500-year-old sculpture to Egypt
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 2, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 2, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
The Netherlands will return a 3,500-year-old sculpture to Egypt, believed to have been stolen during the 2011 unrest, by the end of this year.
-The Netherlands will return a 3,500-year-old sculpture that turned up 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, most likely during the unrest of the 2011 Arab Spring, before appearing on 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 plundered and unlawfully removed from Egypt. 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.
(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
A cultural heritage artifact is an object that has historical, cultural, or artistic significance, often representing the traditions and values of a particular society.
Illegal export refers to the unauthorized shipment of goods or artifacts out of a country, often violating laws or regulations regarding cultural heritage.
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