Switzerland returns more than 2,000-year-old Ptolemaic funerary mask to Egypt

Switzerland has formally handed a Ptolemaic-era funerary mask back to Egypt in Bern, concluding a restitution process that began with its seizure in 2022.

• Swiss customs intercepted the mask in 2022 before archaeologists confirmed its Egyptian origin.
• In Bern, Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baum-Schneider transferred the mask to Egypt's ambassador to Switzerland, Mohamed Naguem.
• Since 2011, Switzerland has returned about 80 cultural and archaeological artifacts to Egypt under bilateral cooperation agreements.