Two Ancient Egyptian Artefacts Repatriated From Belgium
The items include a gilded Late Period wooden coffin and a wooden beard from a Middle Kingdom statue, seized in Belgium in 2016.
Egypt has recovered two ancient Egyptian artefacts from Belgium. The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities received the pieces from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration after Belgian authorities confirmed the items had left Egypt unlawfully, in coordination with the Public Prosecutor’s Office and relevant Belgian counterparts. A specialised archaeological committee from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir took custody of the artefacts at the foreign ministry’s headquarters. The pieces will be transferred to the museum for preliminary examination and necessary conservation work, before being presented to the Museum Display Scenario Committee to determine their placement within the exhibition halls. The case dates back to 2016 when Belgian authorities seized four Egyptian artefacts shown in a private gallery without legal ownership documentation. In 2022, Egypt recovered two of the four items: a wooden statue of a standing man and a small ushabti figurine of an unidentified person. The two items retrieved now are a gilded and painted wooden coffin from the Late Period, noted for its detailed funerary decorations, and an ancient wooden beard that belonged to a Middle Kingdom statue. The ministry stated that these steps form part of ongoing legal and diplomatic efforts to address illicit trafficking and coordinate international cooperation on cultural property.
