The Ministry, represented by the Supreme Council of Antiquities, received the head of a statue belonging to King Ramses II, which had been received by the Egyptian Embassy in Switzerland last July after the success of the efforts of the Ministries of Tourism & Antiquities and Foreign Affairs, the Department of International Cooperation in the Egyptian Attorney General’s Office, and the concerned authorities in tracking down and recovering the head.

The piece has been placed at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir storage magazine, in preparation for the necessary maintenance and restoration work.

The recovered head dates back to more than 3,400 years ago. It was stolen from the temple of King Ramses II in Abydos and left the country illegally more than 3 decades ago. The head is part of a group statue depicting King Ramses II sitting next to a number of Egyptian deities.