The Netherlands will return a stolen ancient sculpture to Egypt

The Netherlands has said it will return a stolen 3,500-year-old sculpture to Egypt.

It is “highly likely” that the stone head, dating back to the time of the pharaohs, was looted during the Arab Spring in 2011 or 2012, according to the Dutch Information and Heritage Inspectorate.

A decade later, it turned up at an art and antiques fair in Maastricht, and after an anonymous tip-off, Dutch authorities discovered it had been stolen and exported illegally.

Outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof promised to return it while attending the archaeological unveiling Great Egyptian Museum in Giza this weekend.

The Dutch government said the sculpture of a high-ranking official from the dynasty of Pharaoh Thutmose III was “deeply significant for Egypt’s identity”.

The statue was offered for sale at the European Foundation for Fine Arts fair in 2022. The dealer voluntarily gave up the sculpture after authorities were notified of its illegal origins.

The government said it expects to hand over the stone head to the Egyptian ambassador to the Netherlands later this year.

“The Netherlands is committed both nationally and internationally to ensuring the heritage is returned to its original owners,” the statement said.

The news comes as Egypt celebrates the opening of the massive Grand Egyptian Museum showcasing its archaeological heritage this weekend.

Originally proposed in 1992, construction of the museum itself was interrupted by the Arab Spring.

Costing around $1.2bn (£910m), the facility contains 100,000 artefacts, including the entire contents of the boy king Tutankhamun’s intact tomb and his famous golden mask.

Prominent Egyptologists hope the museum will boost calls for key antiquities held in other countries to be returned.

These include the Rosetta Stone, the key to deciphering the hieroglyphs, which is on display at the British Museum in London.