Did Germany Cheat to Get Bust of Nefertiti?
The Egyptian Museum in Berlin is concerned that it may face fresh demands from Egypt that it return the world-famous bust of Queen Nefertiti following the emergence of new information on how Germany got the priceless ancient artwork.
SPIEGEL has seen the contents of a document written in 1924 in which the secretary of the German Oriental Company (DOG) gave an account of a meeting on Jan. 20, 1913 between a senior Egyptian official and German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt, who found the bust during a dig in 1912.
The secretary had been present at the meeting which was called to divide up the spoils of the dig between Germany and Egypt on a 50-50 basis. Borchardt, the witness noted, "wanted to save the bust for us" and to that end presented a photograph that didn't show Nefertiti in her best light.
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SPIEGEL has seen the contents of a document written in 1924 in which the secretary of the German Oriental Company (DOG) gave an account of a meeting on Jan. 20, 1913 between a senior Egyptian official and German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt, who found the bust during a dig in 1912.
The secretary had been present at the meeting which was called to divide up the spoils of the dig between Germany and Egypt on a 50-50 basis. Borchardt, the witness noted, "wanted to save the bust for us" and to that end presented a photograph that didn't show Nefertiti in her best light.