Khaberni - Recently, Egyptian calls have been renewed for Germany to return the Queen Nefertiti's head statue from the "Neues Museum" (New Museum) in Berlin, after more than a century since its transfer to Germany in 1913.
These demands have come in the context of the celebration of the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, where many see the statue as the "missing piece" that would complete the cultural image of the new museum.
However, Magdy Shaker, the senior archaeologist at Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, explained in statements to RT channel that the chances of the statue's return to Egypt are "limited", pointing out that the matter is "complicated" and requires a new official agreement between Cairo and Berlin.
Shaker noted that international law, which is overseen by UNESCO, supports the right of museums to retain archaeological pieces officially registered as part of their collections, which constitutes a major legal obstacle to any attempt to recover them.
The statue of Nefertiti, made of limestone and covered with a colored plaster layer, is one of the world's most famous Egyptian artifacts and is dubbed the "German Mona Lisa".
The statue is displayed under tight security in the Berlin Museum, where it is often prohibited from being photographed, and attracts about half a million visitors annually.
The debate continues about how the statue left Egypt, as the German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt — who discovered it in Tell el-Amarna in 1912 — is accused of deceiving the Egyptian authorities at that time, after he provided a misleading description of the piece during the legal division procedures of discovered artifacts, enabling its transfer to Germany.
Despite repeated calls from Egypt for its recovery, Germany insists that its possession of the statue is legal and legitimate, making its case one of the most complex in the files of repatriation of artifacts smuggled or moved under ambiguous historical circumstances.
