AFTER winning an international lawsuit, Egypt has succeeded in efforts to regain three ancient Egyptian artefacts illegally smuggled out of the country in 2009, reports Nevine El-Aref. This week, Egypt succeeded in recovering three ancient Egyptian artefacts illegally smuggled to Germany in 2009. The objects include a small Old Kingdom limestone obelisk engraved with hieroglyphic text on one side and bearing the different titles of its owner on the other, a man honoured by the Pharaoh Khufu. The second object is a New Kingdom limestone naos (small shrine) of the god Horus engraved with scenes depicting prince Kha-Imwast, the son of Ramses II, presenting offerings to Horus. The third object is a black granite statue of a woman called Bessinhatset with her three children. The statue dates to the Late Period and is engraved with the different titles of her children. Minister of State for Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim said that the smuggling had occurred in 2009 when the Stuttgart customs authorities in Germany had found the three artefacts in the luggage of a German citizen who was trying to smuggle them to Brussels. The German police had confiscated the artefacts, storing them in the Berlin Museum. In cooperation with the Egyptian embassy in Germany, a lawsuit was filed in order to recover the objects. This week, after five years of legal procedures, the High Court in Freiburg in Germany announced its decision to hand over the three artefacts to Egypt.
