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Switzerland to return pharaoh eye to Egypt Written by Egypt News Thursday, 11 September 2008 The Egyptian minister of culture announced Wednesday that Switzerland is to return a pharaoh's "eye" stolen 36 years ago from the statue of King Amenhotep III
Egypt’s Minister of Culture, Faruk Hosni said "the eye is around 50 centimetres (19 inches) long and was stolen from Amenhotep III's statue, which was discovered in 1970 in his Luxor temple,"




The eye was stolen in 1972 when a fire broke out around the temple.
He added that "the thieves sold it to an American antiquities dealer who then auctioned it at Sotheby's,"
There, the eye was bought by a German antiquities dealer before ending up in a museum in Basel, Switzerland.
For his part, said Zahi Hawass, the Egypt’s antiquities supremo "The Swiss museum unconditionally accepted to return the eye of Amenhotep III back to Egypt,"
Amenhotep III ruled Egypt for about 40 years during the 18th dynasty (1550-1292 BC), believed to be one of the most prosperous periods of ancient Egyptian history.