Justice for the Dead, 2,000-Year-Old Sarcophagus Goes Back to Egypt
In a significant victory for Egypt’s ongoing campaign to reclaim its stolen heritage,
Belgian authorities on Friday formally handed over a 2,000-year-old sarcophagus and a
fragment of an ancient wooden beard to the Egyptian government. The handover, held
at a ceremonial event in Brussels, marks the end of a decade-long legal and
investigative process involving international cooperation.
The ancient artefacts, believed to date back to the Ptolemaic period (circa 300 BCE to
30 BCE), were seized by Belgian police in 2015 after an Interpol notice was issued at
the request of an Egyptian court. The sarcophagus, adorned with detailed hieroglyphics
and religious iconography, was traced back to Egypt’s rich archaeological past,
confirming it had been illicitly removed from the country.
“After 10 years of investigation and proceedings, it is a true act of justice to return to its
country of origin an item that was misappropriated from its heritage,” said Julien Moinil,
the Brussels public prosecutor. During the years of legal wrangling, the artefacts were
kept in the Royal Museum of Art and History in Brussels.
Hieroglyphic inscriptions on the sarcophagus revealed that it once belonged to a man
named Pa-di-Hor-pa-khered, who is depicted in the traditional posture of transformation
into Osiris, the ancient Egyptian God of the Underworld. Such imagery was common in
elite burials during the Greco-Roman period of Egypt’s history, reflecting beliefs in the
afterlife and divine rebirth.
The return of the artefacts holds deep symbolic and cultural significance for Egypt,
which has long suffered the loss of its antiquities due to centuries of colonial
exploitation, illegal excavations, and trafficking in stolen heritage. In recent years, Egypt
has stepped up efforts to locate and retrieve such items through legal diplomacy and
collaboration with international institutions.
Egyptian officials hailed the return as a milestone in restoring national identity and
historical justice. The Egyptian ambassador in Brussels, who received the artefacts
during the ceremony, expressed gratitude for Belgium’s cooperation and called for
continued vigilance in preventing the illicit trade of cultural treasures.
This restitution adds to a growing list of successful repatriations by Egypt from countries
such as France, the United States, the Netherlands, and Germany. Experts say these
actions not only help restore stolen history but also send a clear message about the
importance of protecting cultural patrimony and enforcing international conventions
against antiquities trafficking.