The Netherlands will return a 3,500‑year‑old bust to Egypt after Dutch authorities seized it from an art fair in 2022 following an anonymous tip that it had been looted and illegally exported. Prime Minister Dick Schoof informed President Abdel Fattah al‑Sisi of the decision shortly after attending the Grand Egyptian Museum opening in Giza. Dutch investigators say the dealer "voluntarily renounced" the piece and the bust should be handed to Egypt’s ambassador by year‑end. This will be the first artifact repatriated to Egypt since the GEM inauguration.
Netherlands to Return 3,500‑Year‑Old Bust to Egypt After Looting Probe
The Netherlands will return a 3,500‑year‑old bust to Egypt after Dutch authorities seized it from an art fair in 2022 following an anonymous tip that it had been looted and illegally exported. Prime Minister Dick Schoof informed President Abdel Fattah al‑Sisi of the decision shortly after attending the Grand Egyptian Museum opening in Giza. Dutch investigators say the dealer "voluntarily renounced" the piece and the bust should be handed to Egypt’s ambassador by year‑end. This will be the first artifact repatriated to Egypt since the GEM inauguration.
20:41, 03.11.2025Culture
Netherlands to Repatriate 3,500‑Year‑Old Egyptian Bust
Cairo — The Netherlands will return a 3,500‑year‑old bust to Egypt, Dutch officials announced, a day after the Dutch prime minister attended the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) opening in Giza.
Prime Minister Dick Schoof said that during a Sunday meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al‑Sisi he informed his counterpart the Netherlands would hand over a sculpted head of a high‑ranking official dating to the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose III.
How the bust was recovered
The piece was discovered being offered for sale at an art fair in 2022 and was seized after Dutch authorities received an anonymous tip alleging the object’s illicit origins. The Dutch government said the art fair dealer "voluntarily renounced the sculpture" and that police and cultural agencies investigated its provenance, determining the head "was obtained by looting and was unlawfully exported."
Officials said the bust is expected to be handed over to the Egyptian ambassador to the Netherlands by the end of the year.
Significance and context
Authorities noted this will be the first artifact returned to Egypt since the Grand Egyptian Museum’s official opening. In the run‑up to the GEM’s inauguration, numerous campaigns sought the repatriation of looted Egyptian antiquities.
"It is a great day for Egypt and for humanity. This is Egypt's gift to the world. It's a dream come true, after all these years, the GEM is finally and officially open," said Nevine El‑Aref, media adviser to the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, to CBS News.
The GEM, a roughly $1 billion project years in the making, is one of the world’s largest museums and the largest dedicated to a single civilization. Its collections span about 7,000 years, from prehistory through the end of the Greek and Roman eras around 400 A.D. Egyptian officials hope the museum will boost tourism and the struggling economy, projecting about 5 million visitors annually.