• Artifact tied to 2011 unrest, spotted at Dutch art fair in 2022

• Egypt has recovered over 30,000 artifacts abroad since 2014

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof told President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi on Sunday that the Netherlands will return a 3,500-year-old Egyptian sculpture. The move is part of efforts to recover artifacts stolen during the 2011 Arab Spring.

The limestone statue, depicting a senior official from the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose III (1479–1425 BC), was likely looted and smuggled out of Egypt amid the 2011 unrest, according to Reuters.

The piece surfaced in 2022 at the TEFAF art fair in Maastricht, where a dealer, informed of its illicit origin, agreed to hand it back. The Dutch authorities plan to deliver the artifact to Egypt’s ambassador in The Hague by the end of the year.

The return coincides with the opening of Egypt’s Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) on November 1, which officials say highlights both the country’s ancient heritage and modern aspirations.

It is the latest in a series of recoveries. In August, the Egyptian Embassy in The Hague received several artifacts confirmed to have been illegally exported. Egypt has reclaimed more than 30,000 antiquities from abroad since 2014, underscoring what authorities describe as a long-term commitment to protecting cultural heritage.

Félicien Houindo Lokossou