The Antiquities Ministry managed to stop the selling of a rare ancient statue at a German gallery, Antiquities Minister Mamdouh Eldamaty said on Sunday.

This came after the ministry held international contacts, in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry, to urge the German authorities to stop the selling of the antique statue as well as seizing it with other artifacts until further investigations.

Eldamaty pointed out that the statue was discovered by a Swiss mission in 2008 and was stored in Elephantine store that was robed in 2013.