Falcon powers – The Egyptian embassy in Bern, Switzerland, has successfully retrieved a rare archaeological artifact belonging to the ancient Egyptian civilization, dating back 3400 years, which was stolen from the archaeological site in Abydos.
The artifact is a fragment of a collective statue of King Ramesses II,
which was handed over to the Egyptian ambassador in Bern, Wael Gad, by the director of the Swiss Federal Cultural Office in July 2023, according to a statement from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The artifact will be shipped free of charge to Egyptian soil through EgyptAir.
The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in its statement that it had delivered a wooden box containing a replica of a part of the head of King Ramesses II to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, represented by the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Cultural Relations.
Earlier, the Swiss Embassy in Cairo had clarified that the retrieved artifact “was stolen between the late 1980s and early 1990s from the Temple of Ramesses II in Abydos, Egypt, and passed through different countries before reaching Switzerland.
” Ramesses II ruled Egypt from 1279 to 1213 BCE and is described as the most powerful and famous pharaoh in the history of ancient Egypt.
