Egypt’s former Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Zahi Hawass is on a mission, calling for the return of the priceless Queen Nefertiti bust currently exhibited at the Neues Museum in Berlin. According to Deutsche Welle, he requests Germany’s cooperation in having the bust repatriated to Egypt, its place of origin.
The sculpture, whose value is estimated at around €400 million ($433 million) was taken from Egypt by the German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt in 1912. German officials claim that the sculpture was acquired legally and Nefertiti has to remain at the museum. It is a major tourist attraction and holds significant cultural importance in the German capital.
Egypt has previously accused Borchardt of “wrapping the Nefertiti’s bust to conceal its value and smuggling it out of the country.” Egyptian demands for its return actually began in 1924, once the bust was first displayed to the public.
Former Egyptian Minister Hawass is an archaeologist who launched a petition urging Germany to return the Nefertiti bust to Egypt in September. He is also seeking information and documents to prove that the bust was removed from Egypt through illegal means.
“This bust, remarkable and unrivaled in history for its historical and aesthetic merit, is now in Germany, but it is time for it to come home to Egypt,” the petition reads.
UNESCO examines new forms of agreement
UNESCO examines new forms of agreement and international cooperation in the field of return and restitution of cultural property through the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property (ICPRCP). Egypt must prove that the precious bust at the Berlin museum was obtained illegally. It is increasing pressure for its return.
In September, Hawass launched a petition urging Germany to return the famous bust of Queen Nefertiti, which is currently housed in Berlin’s Neues Museum. The museum has become a major tourist attraction and a part of the popular consciousness in the German capital.
The colonialism issue
German authorities claim that Queen Nefertiti‘s bust has been dubbed Egypt’s ambassador to the city of Berlin. Egyptian archaeologist Monica Hanna questions this argument.
“An ambassador entails a diplomatic exchange,” Hanna told DW, asking if Egypt has received something major in return, such as “the crown of (Prussian monarch) Frederick the Great or a painting by Albrecht Dürer.”
Referring to the rules of diplomacy, Hanna said that Egypt does not have an equivalent “ambassador,” arguing that “if you send an ambassador one way, he’s a hostage.”
The archaeologist has publicly called for the “decolonization of Egyptian archaeology.” She maintains that the demand to return the Nefertiti bust to Egypt is met with resistance because it “would become a precedent that would pave the road for the return of many different objects taken under colonialism.”
Hawass’ petition also calls for the return of two additional precious Egyptian antiquities: the Rosetta Stone and the Dendera zodiac.
The Rosetta Stone is on display in London’s British Museum. It is an ancient Egyptian stone bearing inscriptions in several languages and scripts, serving as the key to unlock the secrets of hieroglyphic writing.
The Dendera zodiac is a giant stone diagram from a temple in Egypt dating to the mid-1st century BC. It is currently housed at the Louvre in Paris.
The Berlin museum argument on the Nefertiti bust’s repatriation to Egypt
The Berlin museum claims that there are no grounds for restitution in the Nefertiti bust case. Throughout the past, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation that oversees Berlin’s museum collections has acknowledged the presence of stolen colonial art, such as the Benin Bronzes, in its collections. Some of these were returned to Nigeria in 2022.
However, the foundation believes the Nefertiti bust was legally obtained from Egypt after being unearthed in the remains of the city of Amarna, the capital under Pharaoh Akhenaten, Nefertiti’s husband. Following his death, the city, which sits on the east bank of the Nile River, was abandoned in 1335 BC.
“The bust of Nefertiti was found in the course of an excavation authorized by the Egyptian Administration of Antiquities,” Stefan Müchler, spokesperson for the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation said. “It came to Berlin on the basis of a—at that time customary—division of the find which encompassed many more objects.”
“The bust was legally taken out of the country and there is no restitution claim of the Egyptian government,” he told DW in a written statement.
Müchler was referring to a deal with Egyptian authorities that detailed a 50-50 split of some 10,000 artifacts with German cotton and textile magnate James Simon who would provide financing to the Egyptian government.
According to German art experts, a representative from the Egyptian government selected half of the objects, while the other half was taken to Germany, along with the Nefertiti bust. It was displayed in the Neues Museum several years later.
The Egyptian argument on the Nefertiti bust’s repatriation from Germany to Egypt
Hawass, however, disputes the German argument. He wrote that the Nefertiti bust “was brazenly stolen from Egypt by the Germans in 1913 when it was concealed and smuggled from the country despite laws that declared it illegal to remove ‘exceptional’ archaeological finds from Egypt.”
The archaeologist insists that German Egyptologist Ludwig Borchard, who led the initial excavation, removed Nefertiti from Egypt under false pretenses.
According to the Returning Heritage online resource, which reports on cultural restitution debates, “The Egyptian state at that time retained a veto over all objects they felt were too important to leave the country.” However, it was possible Borchard was able to “misrepresent the importance” of the bust, noted report author Lewis McNaught.
The removal of the Nefertiti sculpture took place before Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered in 1922. After that discovery, Egypt removed all rights “given to foreign excavators to take home major discoveries,” noted McNaught in his report.
McNaught believes it is “highly unlikely” that Hawass will succeed with his campaign to repatriate Nefertiti unless he or the Egyptian authorities “come up with new evidence that there was a deliberate deceit.”
The expert also said that the way “spoils of such excavations at this time were divided is often (if not always) shrouded in mystery.”
