Statue of goddess Isis recovered from Switzerland

CAIRO – 29 September 2022: The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, succeeded in recovering a late-era bronze statue of the goddess Isis in a sitting position, carrying the Child Horus on her lap. The statue was illegally smuggled out of the country.

The repatriated statue - Min. of Tourism & Antiquities

The recovery of this statue comes within the framework of the fruitful and continuous cooperation between the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities represented by the General Administration of Recovered Antiquities, the Office of the Assistant Foreign Minister for Cultural Relations, and the Egyptian Embassy in Bern, Switzerland.

The events of this case date back to November 2018, when the Swiss customs authorities discovered the statue during a routine inspection. 

The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has taken all the necessary measures to recover the statue, after a committee from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities confirmed that the statue is an antiquity belonging to the Egyptian civilization, was uncovered during a surreptitious excavation, and was smuggled out of Egypt illegally. 

Coordination was made with the Swiss authorities, especially the Swiss Federal Office for Cultural Affairs, within the framework of the agreement signed between the Egyptian government and the Swiss Federal Council in the field of recovering smuggled antiquities.

Egypt’s Ambassador to Switzerland Wael Gad received the artifact and deposited it at the headquarters of the Egyptian Embassy in preparation for its return to Egypt as soon as possible.