Parts of a column from Thutmose IV temple in Luxor will be repatriated

Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el Damaty announced that his ministry will retrieve during the coming weeks parts of a pillar of Tuthmosis IV's temple in Luxor which was stolen and smuggled to the British capital London.

In a statement issued by the ministry on Wednesday, el Damaty said that the ministry will receive this piece from the Egyptian Embassy in London after ending its restoration measures in cooperation with the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

He underlined that the ministry spare no efforts to return the artifacts irrespective of their size or material, adding that each antiquity embodies part of Egypt's history and identity of its people.

The minister affirmed that the ministry works on the legal and diplomatic levels to restore what was smuggled from Egypt's cultural heritage during the past years.

The fragment is dated to 18th Dynasty and it shows a relief of Amon Re. It was stolen from Thutmose IV temple in Karnak temples complex and smuggled to UK.
Recently, the British possessor expressed his will to hand it back to the Egyptian government.