CAIRO: Egypt's top archaeologist Zahi Hawass is feeling good today, after the German museum housing a famous seated statue of Hemiunu has agreed to lend Egypt the statue for the 2013 opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, near the pyramids. It continues Hawass' push to have all Egyptian artifacts taken from the country returned to Egypt. This is just a loan, but a Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) official said that they fully expect Germany to allow the statue to remain in Egypt upon the end of the agreement. “We would not have agreed to only a loan if there were not discussions in the works that could see the statue return to its rightful home for good,” said the official, who was not authorized to speak to the media. The statue is one of the top pieces at the Roman and Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim and doubts over the weekend of the possible loan deal had emerged after Hawass, the outspoken and often controversial figure, had called for the statue and other ancient Egyptian pieces to be returned to Egypt permanently. The museum, however, did confirm they would loan the statue for the opening of the museum, but said upon the end of the deal, the statue would return to Germany. According to the SCA, Hemiunu is thought to have been an architect on the Great Pyramid of Khufu in Giza – the largest of the three pyramids. The statue depicts the man in a loin cloth. Egypt also wants the famous Nefertiti bust currently housed at a Berlin museum to also be returned to Egypt, but Germany has dismissed the claims and maintains that statue will remain in Europe. Egypt has threatened to cut ties with certain museums if artifacts are not returned to the country of their origin. Germany has said there is no official claim by Cairo that the statues are “official property of Egypt.” Kristina Zappen of the Hildesheim Museum said in reports that there has never been any official request from Cairo to give the statue back. Hawass' office said that there “shouldn't be a need for an official government request. It is common sense to return what is Egyptian to Egypt.” Hildesheim was not even considering giving the statue back, she added. The whole museum collection was of “honest provenance. “Every item in our collection arrived in Germany legally,” she said. If the Egyptian government were to officially question the statue's ownership, the museum would have to reconsider the loan, the museum said in a statement. “The whole thing would have to be thought out again,” she said. Despite the loan, Egypt is struggling to complete the Grand Egyptian Museum due to a funding dispute with the Bank of Japan. According to one American archaeologist, the Egyptian government believed the “loan” given to Egypt for the construction did not need to be repaid. The Bank of Japan thought differently and has suspended the transfer of funds, which has left building on the museum dead in its tracks. BM
