Switzerland returns fragment of Ramses II statue to Egypt

Switzerland returned on Monday a fragment of 3,400-year-old statue of Pharaoh Ramses II that was stolen decades ago from a temple in Abydos.

The director of the Federal Office of Culture (OFC), Carine Bachmann, handed over the “important archaeological asset” to the Egyptian embassy in Bern, Switzerland.

According to OFC, the stone sculpture of Pharaoh Ramses II, to which the returned fragment belongs, is part of a group statue where the king sits alongside various Egyptian deities.

Both Egypt and Switzerland are parties to the 1970 UNESCO Convention to Prohibit and Prevent the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.