CAIRO: The Egyptian Ministry of Culture has officially asked Germany to return a 3,300-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti, the Ministry said on Monday. The bust has been a point of dispute between the two countries. The request was sent after four years of research by a committee comprised of legal experts and Egyptologists, said the Supreme Council of Antiquities. “The government of Egypt is confident that the German authorities will assist in facilitating its return,” the statement said. Antiquities chief Zahi Hawas said, “The bust, upon its return, will be exhibited at the Akhenaten Museum in Minya, opening in early 2012.” The painted limestone bust of Nefertiti, wife of Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten, is currently on display at Berlin's Neues Museum, where it attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. Dating back to the 14th century B.C., the bust was discovered by German Egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt and his team during a 1912 excavation at Tell al-Amarna in Al Minya. German officials say the bust was legally purchased in 1913. They also say it is too delicate to be moved. Egypt contends it was taken out with fraudulent documents in the early 20th century. The SCA said the request to Germany is part of Egypt's “long-standing policy of seeking the restitution of all archaeological artifacts that have been taken illicitly out of the country.” BM
