CAIRO, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Egypt recovered an ancient golden mummy mask from Switzerland as part of its efforts to retrieve artifacts illegally taken from the country, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
The Egyptian Embassy in Bern coordinated with Swiss authorities to recover the artifact. Egyptian Ambassador Mohamed Nagm received the mask on behalf of the foreign minister.
The recovery reflects growing cooperation between Egypt and Switzerland in protecting cultural property and combating illegal trafficking of antiquities, the ministry said.
The Embassy of Switzerland in Cairo said the ancient funerary mask dated back to the Ptolemaic period, more than 2,000 years ago.
The return marks another milestone in the longstanding cooperation between Switzerland and Egypt to protect cultural heritage and fight the illicit trafficking of cultural property. Since 2011, Switzerland has returned around 80 cultural objects to Egypt, the embassy added. ■