THE HAGUE (Reuters) — The Netherlands on Thursday returned a 3,500-year-old sculpture to Egypt after the looted artefact resurfaced at a Dutch art fair in 2022.

An investigation by Dutch police and cultural heritage inspectorate confirmed in 2025 that the sculpture had been plundered and unlawfully removed from Egypt, most likely during the Arab Spring unrest of 2011, before appearing on the international art market.

Experts believe the artefact, a stone head that was originally part of a block statue, originated from Luxor in southern Egypt. It depicts a senior official from the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose III (1479–1425 BCE).

It was confiscated in 2022 at an art fair in the Dutch city of........

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