The highly anticipated opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) earlier this month has stirred a powerful wave of national pride and cultural awareness across Egypt, prompting archaeologists, ordinary citizens, and historians alike to call for the restitution of some of the nation’s treasured artefacts currently housed in international museums.
This cultural awakening has quickly translated into a public campaign demanding the return of three iconic masterpieces considered central to Egypt’s heritage:
- the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum in London
- the 18th-Dynasty bust of Queen Nefertiti at the Neues Museum in Berlin
- the Dendera Zodiac at the Louvre in Paris
Advocates argue that with the GEM standing as the ultimate home for ancient Egypt’s legacy, the time has come for these defining symbols of national identity to return to their homeland.
“The pursuit of repatriating Egyptian antiquities is not simply a cultural campaign, but a question of historical legitimacy and civilisational justice,” said Egyptologist and former Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass.
Hawass emphasised that the issue transcends national boundaries and called for a broader international reckoning with the legacy of colonial-era acquisitions and the systems that enabled cultural dispossession.
He urged museums and cultural institutions worldwide to adopt transparent and ethical acquisition policies, refrain from purchasing artefacts of doubtful provenance, and uphold the principle that the cultural heritage of a people is an inalienable component of their identity and collective memory.
“The GEM changed the conversation. It proved that Egypt not only has the ability to preserve its antiquities, but also to present them at a level that rivals and, in many cases, surpasses the world’s great museums. It has restored confidence, and it has restored dignity,” Hawass confirmed.
Egypt has recovered nearly 30,000 artefacts over the past ten years. In 2024 alone, 172 pieces were successfully repatriated, and approximately 280 more have been returned in 2025. The country has also introduced stricter internal museum inventory procedures, standardised storage systems, and regular audits to ensure the accurate documentation of holdings.
As Egypt stands at the beginning of a new chapter in telling its own story with the opening of the GEM, the debate over repatriation has grown beyond academic circles or ministerial offices and has become a public conversation about identity, history, and cultural dignity.
