Belgian authorities announced that they have handed over to Egypt a sarcophagus approximately 2,000 years old, a decade after it was seized by police in Brussels, AFP reported.

The prosecutor’s office stated that along with the sarcophagus, a fragment of an ancient wooden beard was also returned. The artefacts were formally presented to the Egyptian ambassador during a ceremony in the Belgian capital.

“After 10 years of investigation and legal proceedings, this is truly an act of justice—to return to the country of origin an item that was unlawfully torn from its cultural heritage,” said Julien Moinil, Brussels public prosecutor.

The artefacts were seized by Belgian police in 2015 after Interpol issued a notice at the request of a court in Egypt, the prosecutor’s office clarified. During the investigation, they were kept at the Royal Museum of Art and History in Brussels.

The statement noted that the wooden sarcophagus dates back to the Ptolemaic period between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC and “undoubtedly belonged to a member of Egyptian high society.”

“The choice of materials and the meticulous craftsmanship bear witness to exceptional skill,” experts further remarked.

They added that thanks to the hieroglyphics on the sarcophagus, it was possible to identify its former occupant as Pa-di-Hor-pa-khered, who was depicted as having transformed into Osiris—the god of the underworld. |BGNES