The bust of Nefertiti is back in Berlin's Neues Museum, where it was displayed until the Second World War. Egypt has laid claim to the carving. (Herbert Knosowski/Associated Press)An ancient Egyptian bust of Queen Nefertiti has been moved back to the Berlin museum that exhibited it before the Second World War.
The 3,300-year-old sculpture was installed in the renovated Neues Museum on Sunday, museum officials said Monday.
Egypt has repeatedly demanded the return of the bust of the woman believed to be Nefertiti, the wife of a pharoah. She is often referred to as the Beauty of the Nile.
The limestone carving was found during an archeological dig near Amarna in 1913 and acquired by a German collector. He gave it to the Neues Museum, one of several museums grouped on Berlin's Museum Island.
During the Second World War, the Red Army wrecked the museum when it invaded Berlin. Nefertiti was among a number of artifacts that had been stored in a salt mine. It has been shown in various Berlin art galleries, including most recently the Altes Museum, close to the Neues.
Despite Egypt's claims, Germany says the Neues, which has recently had a a 200-million-euro renovation, will be its permanent home. The bust will go back on public display on Oct. 17.
The Neues or New Museum, built between 1843 and 1855, has been unused since the Second World War and will reopen in October as home to the Egyptian and pre-history collection of the Berlin museums complex.
With files from The Associated Press
