JAKARTA - Egypt welcomed the return of the 3,400-year-old head statue of Kingvisi II which was stolen and smuggled abroad about three decades ago, the country's Ministry of Antiquities said last week.
The statue was stolen from the temple of JAPAN II in the ancient city of Abydos, South Egypt more than three decades ago. The exact date is unknown, but the Head of the Department of Repatriation of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities Shaaban Abdel Gawad said the antiques were thought to have been stolen in the late 1980s or early 1990s, quoted from Reuters on May 1.
Egyptian authorities saw the artifact when it was offered for sale at an exhibition in London, England in 2013. The artifact was moved to several other countries before reaching Switzerland, according to the Ministry of Antiquities.
"This head is part of a collection of statues depicting Kingvising II sitting next to a number of Egyptian gods," said Abdel Gawad.
ijes II is one of the most powerful Pharaohs in ancient Egypt. Also known as the Greatvistors, he is the third Pharaoh of the nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt and ruled from 1279 to 1213 BC.
Egypt is working with Swiss authorities to establish its legal ownership. Switzerland handed the statue over to the Egyptian embassy in Bern last year, but only recently did Egypt bring the artifact home.
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The statue is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo but is not displayed. The artifact will be restored, the ministry said in a statement.
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