Egypt is intensifying efforts to combat the illegal trafficking of its invaluable antiquities, successfully repatriating stolen artefacts from various countries around the world.
These recovered treasures are more than mere objects; they are tangible links to Egypt’s rich cultural heritage and ancient civilisation, embodying the nation’s identity and history.
The government’s persistent diplomatic and legal initiatives underscore a commitment to preserving this legacy, ensuring that these priceless relics are returned to their homeland to be studied, exhibited, and celebrated by future generations. This ongoing campaign not only restores Egypt’s cultural patrimony but also sends a powerful message against the global illicit trade of cultural property.
Over the past six months, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry and foreign authorities, has retrieved artefacts from six countries: 10 from Britain, three from Spain, two from Brussels, 36 from the US, seven from France, and 20 from Australia.
The 36 objects recovered from the US include 25 pieces returned recently and 11 additional artefacts returned in a separate operation. Among the recovered items are gilded wooden coffin lids dating to the Dynastic Period, a Fayoum mummy portrait from the first to third centuries CE, a granite foot fragment from circa 1292-1189 BCE, and finely crafted jewellery from the fourth century BCE.
The collection also features parts of a temple believed to be dedicated to Queen Hatshepsut, small ivory statues, a funerary mask from the Roman period, a New Kingdom wall panel inscribed with hieroglyphics and still displaying vivid colours, and a tombstone dating between the 3rd and 4th centuries CE.
In Australia, 20 Ancient Egyptian objects were retrieved after being spotted in a major auction house. Lacking proof of legal ownership, the items were returned in coordination with the Egyptian Embassy in Canberra. Among them are ushabti figurines, part of a wooden coffin shaped like a human hand, a wooden snake head, a clay oil lamp, ivory spindles, a Wedjat eye amulet, Coptic textile, a nail believed to be from a royal coffin, and the final missing fragment of a stela belonging to Seshn Nefertum, a piece whose other parts were repatriated from Switzerland in 2017.
From France came seven objects confiscated in Paris after confirmation of their illegal export. These include a wooden statue of the god Anubis in his jackal form, a votive coffin, two wooden hands, a clay figurine, and three small papyrus scrolls.
The Brussels recovery included a gilded wooden coffin from the Ptolemaic era (third to first centuries BCE) and a wooden beard from an Ancient Egyptian statue.
The British repatriation followed a London police operation that dismantled an international antiquities trafficking network. The recovered items include a New Kingdom limestone funerary stela depicting Paser, overseer of builders, with Osiris, Isis, and the Four Sons of Horus, a red baboon-shaped amulet, 18th-Dynasty faience vessels, a bronze crown fragment from a large statue of Osiris (22nd–26th Dynasties), a beaded funerary mask (26th Dynasty), and several faience and black stone amulets.
From Germany, the Hamburg authorities returned a mummy skull and hand, along with an ankh-shaped amulet symbolising life.
All the recovered artiefacts have been transferred to the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square for conservation before going on public display in a special exhibition dedicated to recently repatriated treasures.
Shaaban Abdel-Gawad, director of the Antiquities Repatriation Department, stressed that these returns reflect Egypt’s determination to restore and protect its heritage. “Every recovered artefact tells part of Egypt’s story,” he said. “Bringing them home ensures that story remains whole.”
* A version of this article appears in print in the 14 August, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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