Overview
- Prime Minister Dick Schoof announced the decision during a state visit for the Grand Egyptian Museum's opening, calling the handover a symbolic gesture welcomed by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
- The head surfaced for sale at TEFAF Maastricht in 2022, where an anonymous visitor's tip led the dealer to surrender it and authorities to seize it.
- Dutch police and the Information and Heritage Inspectorate determined the artifact was obtained through plunder and unlawfully exported, likely during the 2011–2012 Arab Spring unrest.
- The bust, carved in black granite and styled like royal imagery, depicts a high-ranking official from the era of Pharaoh Thutmose III, according to museum experts.
- Officials say the transfer to Egypt’s ambassador by year’s end fulfills obligations under the 1970 UNESCO Convention and follows recent Dutch repatriations to Nigeria and planned Benin Bronzes returns.