Petition calls for the bust to be returned to Egypt

An online petition calls for the bust of Nefertiti to be returned to Egypt. The bust from Ancient Egypt has been in German possession since 1912 and is the main attraction of the Egyptian Museum in Berlin. The petition was started by the archaeologist and former Secretary General of the Egyptian Antiquities Administration, Zahi Hawass, as the petition platform change.org announced in Berlin.

As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 21,000 people have already signed the demand since October 18th. Hawass was Egypt’s minister of antiquities under Mubarak, but lost his post in the wake of the 2011 revolution. For years he has been making headlines with his repeated demands for the return of Nefertiti.

Old argument about the return

His petition is addressed to Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth (Greens), the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK) and the management of the New Museum in Berlin. As one of Egypt’s most important artifacts, the bust should be returned to its country of origin, it says. The demand is based on international agreements on the protection of cultural heritage, including a UNESCO convention from 1970.

“The numerous calls to enter into a constructive dialogue and clarify how this unique artifact came to Germany have so far remained unanswered. The aim of this petition is to get the dialogue going again, to promote the return of the bust to Cairo and to receive a worthy response from the German authorities,” the petition says.

Different views

From the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation it sounds completely different. SPK President Hermann Parzinger said repeatedly in this newspaper that the bust ended up in the Berlin museums through a regular distribution of finds. There is no demand for return from the Egyptian government, the SPK now told broadcaster rbb. The Berlin museums have been working closely and trustingly with museums from many countries of origin of their collection objects for decades. The SPK is in close contact with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.:

The approximately 50 centimeter high bust of Queen Nefertiti is considered a masterpiece of sculpture from the Amarna period in the 14th and 13th centuries BC. It was discovered on December 6, 1912 during excavations by the German Orient Society and brought to Germany in 1913 with the approval of the Egyptian Antiquities Administration. She was first presented publicly in Berlin in 1924. The demand that she return to Egypt is as old as her public presence.