An ancient statue of a priest that was smuggled out of Egypt has been returned after being spotted at a fine art fair in the Netherlands.
The legless figure of Ni Kau Ptah, dating back to the Old Kingdom, was handed to a committee of experts at the tourism ministry in Cairo on Monday.
It is now at the Egyptian Museum in the city’s Tahrir Square, to be studied and restored, Shaaban Abdel-Gawad, the general supervisor of the Recovered Antiquities Administration, told The National.
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said it co-ordinated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Egyptian embassy in The Hague and the Dutch authorities to retrieve the statue, as part of Egypt’s efforts to recover stolen artefacts from abroad.
“It’s very important to have it back to Egypt. Small or big, it’s a part of our history,” Mr Abdel-Gawad said.
It’s very important to have it back to Egypt. Small or big, it’s a part of our history
Shaaban Abdel-Gawad,
general supervisor of the Recovered Antiquities Administration
The statue was discovered at the annual European Fine Art Foundation fair (Tefaf) in Maastricht in 2018 and transferred to the Egyptian embassy.
It was illegally smuggled and is not from the holdings of museums or stores belonging to the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
The figure depicts the priest standing with his arms by his sides and wearing a short kilt. His name is engraved on the right arm.
“We know from the name of this statue that it’s from a place in Saqqara,” Mr Abdel-Gawad said.
Saqqara is a Unesco World Heritage Site, and the necropolis for Memphis, the capital of ancient Egypt.
The Ni Kau Ptah statue dates back to the era from 2000 to 2500BC and was probably part of the walls of a tomb, Mr Abdel-Gawad said.
It is one of thousands of Egyptian artefacts repatriated this year.
“In 2021, we started with 5,000 pieces from the United States and we have two pieces from Italy and also 114 pieces from France and this statue from Holland,” Mr Abdel-Gawad said.
The 5,000 items at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, include funeral masks and heads of stone statues.
They were returned in January after years of negotiations.
In April, two smuggled Greco-Roman artefacts were seized in the Genoa region of Italy.
Last month, Egypt recovered 114 artefacts smuggled to France and three from Britain.
The smuggling of Egyptian antiquities has been a problem for many decades. An antiquities ministry statement from 2018 said that 32,638 artefacts had been lost in the previous 50 years.
Egypt is preparing to open the Grand Egyptian Museum this year. It will be the world’s largest archaeological museum dedicated to a single civilisation, with 50,000 antiquities on display.
The country is focusing on preserving its heritage, as well as boosting tourism amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
How to improve Arabic reading in early years
One 45-minute class per week in Standard Arabic is not sufficient
The goal should be for grade 1 and 2 students to become fluent readers
Subjects like technology, social studies, science can be taught in later grades
Grade 1 curricula should include oral instruction in Standard Arabic
First graders must regularly practice individual letters and combinations
Time should be slotted in class to read longer passages in early grades
Improve the appearance of textbooks
Revision of curriculum should be undertaken as per research findings
Conjugations of most common verb forms should be taught
Systematic learning of Standard Arabic grammar
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Indian origin executives leading top technology firms
Sundar Pichai
Chief executive, Google and Alphabet
Satya Nadella
Chief executive, Microsoft
Ajaypal Singh Banga
President and chief executive, Mastercard
Shantanu Narayen
Chief executive, chairman, and president, Adobe
Indra Nooyi
Board of directors, Amazon and former chief executive, PepsiCo
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
The five pillars of Islam
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Power: 272hp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 331Nm from 5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.7L/100km
On sale: now
Price: Dh149,000