Switzerland returns stolen Ramses II statue fragment to Egypt

Switzerland, through theFederal Office of Culture, has donated a cultural asset more than 3,400 years old to theEgyptian Embassy in Bern: a fragment of a stone sculpture depicting Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II. The object was permanently confiscated as part of a cantonal criminal case and subsequently ordered to be transferred to its country of origin. This was done in accordance with the Federal Law on the International Transfer of Cultural Property, which implements the 1970 UNESCO Convention on Measures to Prohibit and Prevent the Illegal Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. The handover took place last July 3 in the presence of Federal Office of Culture (FOC) Director Carine Bachmann.

The statue of Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II belongs to a group of sculptures in which the king is seated next to various ancient Egyptian deities. The fragment was stolen from the Temple of Ramses II in Abydos, Egypt, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. After several passages abroad, it finally arrived in Switzerland.

Egypt has been severely affected by the looting and destruction of archaeological sites. The stolen artifacts are of various kinds, ranging from everyday objects to artifacts of religious and ceremonial importance such as funerary objects or statues and other architectural elements. Artifacts from all historical periods in the country are very popular, especially those from the Pharaonic, Nubian and Greco-Roman periods.

Switzerland and Egypt are contracting states to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on Measures to Prohibit and Prevent the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. This restitution thus underscores Switzerland and Egypt’s joint commitment to combating the illegal transfer of cultural property, which was further strengthened in 2011 with the entry into force of a bilateral agreement on the import and repatriation of cultural property.

Switzerland returns stolen Ramses II statue fragment to Egypt

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