Prominent Egyptian archaeologist and former Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass has launched a petition to return a pharaonic statue of Queen Nefertiti to Egypt from the Neues Museum in Berlin.
A famous painted limestone statue of Nefertiti was uncovered at Tell el-Amarna, about 300km (185 mi) south of Cairo, in 1912 by a German archaeological mission, which sent it to Berlin the following year.
Amarna was the short-lived capital of Nefertiti’s husband, the 18th Dynasty pharaoh Akhenaten, who ruled until about 1335 BC.
Akhenaten, the so-called pagan king, was notorious for promoting the worship of the god Aten to the exclusion of other Egyptian gods. His reign also brought about a radical change in Egyptian art.
Appeal from Hawass
In his petition launched on Saturday, Hawass asked for the return of the bust, saying it was illegally removed from Egypt after its discovery.
“We announce today that Egypt – this is a national committee, it’s not a government committee – is asking for the return of the statue of Nefertiti,” Hawass said.
“What I need from everyone here is to go to my website … hawasszahi.com, and you sign one, to show that you would like this bust back.”
Hawass said he is not calling for the return of artifacts legally taken from Egypt. His campaign focused on the return of “three major beauties”, including the statue of Nefertiti, the Rosetta Stone and the Dendera Zodiac.
Officials at the Neues Museum in Berlin were not immediately available for comment.
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