Egypt to 'prove' Germany stole Nefertiti bust

[DJKeefy]

Egypt will soon provide evidence that the 3,400-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti was taken illegally out of the country by Germany, Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said on Sunday.

"We are still gathering information, but I expect we will shortly have enough to place a formal request to the Berlin Museum for the return of the bust," Hawass told the Tagesspiegel in an interview.

The fabled bust of Nefertiti, renowned as one of history's great beauties, was brought to Berlin in 1913, a year after German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt unearthed it on the banks of the Nile.

Cairo began demanding the statue in the 1930s, but successive German governments, beginning with Adolf Hitler's, have refused its request.

"There do not appear to be any documents that prove conclusively that Nefertiti left Egypt in a way that was legal and beyond ethical reproach. I think we have good arguments for her return," Hawass added.

Hawass said there would be "no co-operation" with Berlin's New Museum, which will house the bust when it opens to the public in October, until the problem is resolved.

Nefertiti was previously displayed in Berlin's Egyptian museum where she helped draw roughly half a million visitors every year.

"What was stolen from us should be returned and this includes five pieces that are unique to our culture. Nefertiti is one of these," Hawass said.

German authorities have reportedly said they are willing to consider whether the statue could be returned to Cairo temporarily for display but there are doubts over whether the bust is strong enough to survive the trip.



Source: AFP

[redsaffy]

Seems silly to me as if it was not for the aritfacts that are in museums around the world then most people would not ever get to see the wonders of Egypt.

[Kiya]

And you really think Cairo would have the bust temporarily? I think if it ever got that far its there for keeps

[Horus]

You are not wrong there Kiya Once our Zahi got his mitts on that particular artifact they would need to surgically separate them both to get it returned.
But seriously, why does he keep doing this? Egypt has more than enough treasures to fill it's museums. The value of these 'stolen' artifacts in promoting tourism just cannot be measured, he is just a greedy old git. If you took his claims to it's logical conclusion then we would need to empty every museum in the world and return all the items to their original source.

These artifacts were collected in a different age with different people in control and different ethics applied at the time they were procured. We cannot turn back the clock, we can only apply better ethics to modern day collecting. Very soon we will have the Italians demanding Hadrian's wall be dismantled and returned as it was built and owned by them and never sold to the British. What about the Jewish nation demanding the Colosseum be returned to Israel as it was built and funded with the treasures looted from their temple, the list would be endless.