Museum director defends right to Nefertiti bust

Dec 21, 2009, 17:22 GMT

Berlin/Cairo - Egypt has not made a formal request for Germany to return the bust of Queen Nefertiti, the director Berlin's Egyptian Museum said on Monday, defending the museum's right to the famous artefact.

Museum director Friederike Seyfried said the 3,500-year-old limestone sculpture was not the subject of a Sunday meeting in Cairo with Egypt's antiquities chief, Zahi Hawass.

Hawass was quoted by Egyptian media Monday as saying 'the Nefertiti bust was smuggled out of Egypt by a German archaeologist, through deception and obfuscation,' adding that he would use official channels to demand its return.

In response to the reports, Seyfried stated that documents seen by Hawass, detailing the 1912 excavation during which the Nefertiti bust was discovered, clearly demonstrated that Nefertiti was rightfully in Berlin.

'The German position is clear and unequivocal. The acquisition of the bust by the Prussian state was lawful,' Seyfried said.

The discussion in Cairo, she added, had revolved around future cooperation, including shared exhibitions and an exchange programme for conservators.

The Berlin museum has not ruled out the possibility of lending Nefertiti to Egypt for a fixed period, and is currently checking whether the 3,500-year-old bust is fit to travel.

According to German sources, a loan of the art treasure to Egypt had been discussed to coincide with the opening of a large new museum in Egypt in 5 years' time.

The bust is the most famed artefact in the Berlin museum's Egyptology collection, housed in its newly reopened quarters in the heart of Berlin.