Renowned Egyptologist Zahi Hawass announced that Egypt has recovered 67 artifacts from Germany, including a mummy’s foot and leg, a bronze statue, a mural, and several small “Ushabti” statues.
During a phone-in with the privately-owned Sada el-Balad satellite channel on Saturday, Hawas added that: “These pieces were seized from a tomb in Saqqara area, and there is cooperation from European countries to return the smuggled artifacts to their countries of origin.”
Hawass explained that it is not possible to count the number of artifacts smuggled abroad, which he said is due to the large and random illegal excavation of antiquities after 2011.
“Internationally accredited museums do not buy smuggled antiquities, but internationally unknown museums buy these pieces and store them, and then display them after several years or sell them to other countries.”
Hawass continued: “I hope that Germany will complete its kindness to us and return Nefertiti’s bust to us. We need to hold a global popular conference to return this precious artifact, in addition to obtaining a million signatures from the Egyptian people to recover this piece.”
