MOHAMED SALEH AND KARIN SOWADA PUT HEAD ON TORSO OF ANCIENT EGYPTIAN STATUE IN SYDNEY,...

Karin Sowada (R) helps Dr Mohamed Saleh (L) Director-General of the Cairo Museum, place the replica head of an Egyptian goddess on the statue's authentic torso in Sydney University's Nicholson Museum October 6. The statue dates back to the reign of Tutankhamen around 1300 BC but it is not known when the two sections were separated. The head remained in the Cairo museum while the torso was taken to Australia by an avid collector over 100 years ago. An American academic recognised the two sections in a photograph about two years ago and contacted the two museums to suggest they measure the sections to see if they matched. Egyptian law prevents Tutankhamen artefacts from leaving the country, so the Sydney collection will keep the cast of the head while Saleh will return to Cairo with a similar cast of the torso. DG/CC/AA