The recovery is part of the government's ongoing efforts to repatriate cultural heritage smuggled abroad, which brought home 30,000 artefacts from various countries around the world since 2014.

​Investigations confirmed that these artefacts were smuggled out of Egypt through illegal excavations not out of any museum, storage depot, or archaeological site.

“The recovery of these artefacts is a milestone in the Egyptian-Dutch cooperation against the illegal trade of cultural properties and antiquities,” said Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA).

Khaled revealed that these artefacts were found in an antique shop in the Netherlands and returned to Egypt after joint investigations by the Dutch and Egyptian authorities.

The recovery also underscores the roles played by Ministries of Tourism and Antiquities, Foreign Affairs, and the office of the Public Prosecutor in the preservation and recovery of Egyptian antiquities.

Meanwhile, Shaaban Abdel-Gawad, General Director of the Antiquities Repatriation Department, explained that the artefacts include a blue ceramic Ushabti statuette bearing inscriptions, part of a wooden coffin adorned with carvings of goddess Isis, and a mummy's head in good condition, still showing remnants of teeth and hair.