France returns to Egypt a Pharaonic statue dating back more than 43 centuries
Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh El-Damaty said in a statement today, Friday, that a wooden Pharaonic statue was recovered from France and “arrived yesterday evening (Thursday) in Egyptian territory.”
The statement did not mention how the statue was transported outside Egypt.
The Ministry of Antiquities had previously published a picture of the recovered statue, which is 33 centimeters high and represents a woman sleeping on her stomach, extending her arms forward in a streamlined position, perhaps representing a spoon that was used in decorative and cosmetic procedures such as applying perfume.
Ali Ahmed, Director General of the Recovered Antiquities Department at the Ministry of Antiquities, said that the statue has been registered since its discovery in 1994 in the cemetery of King Titi in the Saqqara area, south of Cairo, and that it left Egypt in 2009 and was then discovered in France.
"Titi" was the first king of the Sixth Dynasty (2345-2181 BC).
The statement said that an archaeological committee received the statue and that it will be deposited in the Egyptian Museum’s storeroom overlooking Tahrir Square in preparation for displaying it within a temporary exhibition organized by the museum from time to time for the recovered antiquities.
In the past few years, Egypt has signed bilateral agreements with a number of countries, including China and the United States, to combat trafficking in antiquities and provide the necessary support for their recovery, including unregistered antiquities resulting from surreptitious excavations.
Source : websites