Wednesday, May 4, 2011

A Star Like Nefertiti

The head of Egypt's antiquities service, Dr. Zahi Hawass has once again called on the folks in Germany to hand over the bust of Nefertiti found at tell El Amarna in 1912. According to Dr. Hawass he has paperwork to prove the bust was illegally smuggled out of Egypt.

The German authorities also say they have paperwork to prove the bust was acquired legally. The bust is housed in it's own beautiful room at the newly restored Neues museum in Berlin. Anyway the issue is viewed it is clear that the bust, which is clearly a masterpiece, should have ended up in Egypt's National collection.

Having said that I would doubt that the people of the newly opened Neues museum are going to want to send their star back to Egypt. Dr. Hawass certainly must be admired for his chutzpah even if his dream of the ladies return is left as only a fantasy!

1 comment:

Tom Holloway said...

Adam Palmer created a marvelous caricature of Zahi Hawass in the person of "Akil Mansoor" the head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in his thriller The Moses Legacy. Certainly, the character is brusque and does not suffer fools gladly (and has a bee in his bonnet about stolen antiquities). But rumour has it that Palmer toned down some of Hawass's excesses (such as his undiplomatic comments about Jews).