Egypt News

The Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt head Zahi Hawass said the 3,300-year-old legendary statue of Queen Nefertiti should be returned to its home.

Germany currently has the bust on display at Neues Museum in Berlin where it is the centerpiece of the museum's Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection.

Hawass released a statement asking for the bust to be returned. His request was backed by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and Culture Minister Faruq Hosni.

"This request is a natural consequence of Egypt's long-standing policy of seeking the restitution of all archaeological and historical artifacts that have been taken illicitly out of the country," the statement read, according to Reuters.

A German archaeologist, Ludwig Borchhardt, found the statute in 1912 and it was taken to Germany the following year where it has remained.

Hermann Parzinger, president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation refused to accommodate Hawass’s statement, "She is and remains Egypt's best ambassador in Berlin,” he told The Associated Press.

"This is not an official request. An official request is a request from one government to another," German foreign ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke told AFP.

Hawass says he will not stop trying to get the statue back to Egypt.

"I am doing something that I believe in and that should have been done 100 years ago," Hawass told AP. "My campaign has united those who have been pillaged against the pillagers. It's the world's greatest campaign of its kind and has inspired many nations to follow suit."

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