Cairo: Switzerland has returned to Egypt an ancient funerary mask dating back to the Ptolemaic period, more than 2,000 years after it was created. According to State Information Service Egypt, Swiss customs authorities intercepted the mask as it entered the country in 2022, before archaeological experts confirmed its Egyptian origin. In Bern, Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider officially handed over the mask to Egypt's Ambassador to Switzerland, Mohamed Negm. The return of the mask comes as part of the longstanding cooperation between Switzerland and Egypt to protect cultural heritage and combat the illicit trafficking of cultural property. Since 2011, Switzerland has returned around 80 archaeological and cultural objects to Egypt.