Egypt retrieves 2 smuggled artifacts from Switzerland

CAIRO - 24 March 2019: Egypt's Ambassador to Bern Hisham Saif Eddin stated in an official statement that the embassy succeeded on Nov. 22 to recover two smuggled artifacts from Geneva, Switzerland.

Saif Eddin praised the cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Antiquities, represented by Shaaban Abdel Gawad, supervisor of the General Department of Antiquities.

Abdel Gawad explained that the two artifacts are a wooden statue of ancient Egyptian goddess Bastet and a pink granite statue of Horus.

Furthermore, the ambassador lauded the efforts exerted by the Egyptian Embassy in coordination with the cultural sector of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the General Department of Recovered Antiquities at the Ministry of Antiquities .

He also praised the cooperation o f the customs authorities in Canton, Geneva, which managed to confiscate the two smuggled pieces, pointing out that the handover of these two pieces came as a culmination of the efforts that started in March 2017.

The ambassador of Egypt in Bern expressed appreciation for the efforts of the concerned Swiss authorities that contributed to the restoration of the two archaeological pieces,asserting the continuation of efforts exerted in coordination with the Swiss authorities to further recover important antiquities.