Addis Ababa (AFP)

The Ethiopian government resumed possession of a priceless 18th century crown on Thursday that a former refugee had hidden for more than 20 years in a small apartment in the Netherlands.

The crown was returned during a ceremony in Addis Ababa, in the presence of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, and the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Sigrid Kaag.

Adorned with gilded copper, with engravings depicting Jesus Christ and his apostles, the crown suddenly resurfaced last year when an Ethiopian refugee who became a Dutch citizen, Sirak Asfaw, contacted Dutch art expert Arthur Brand.

Sirak Asfaw fled Ethiopia in the late 1970s, during the "Red Terror" purges. He discovered by chance in April 1998 the crown in a suitcase left by one of his compatriots who escaped like him from the dictatorship.

Sirak said he could not return the crown due to the "unstable situation in Ethiopia". He promised the mysterious owner of the suitcase that the crown "would not leave his house except to return" to his country of origin.

Convinced that if he returned it, "it would disappear again", he kept it for 21 years in a secret place in his apartment in the port city of Rotterdam.

After the investiture of Mr. Abiy in April 2018, Mr. Sirak finally judged that the situation in Ethiopia was stable and secure enough to return the crown.

It would have belonged to one of the most powerful Ethiopian warlords of the 18th century, "ras" Welde Sellase. The latter would have probably donated it to a church near the town of Mekele, in the north of Ethiopia.

Jacopo Gnisci, a researcher at the University of Oxford who examined the object and confirmed its authenticity, estimates that there exist in the world less than thirty of these crowns, called "zewd".

"We are honored and delighted to have been able to contribute to the legitimate return" of the crown, said Kaag in a statement.

Abiy thanked the Dutch government for its cooperation, according to radio and television Fana BC, close to the Ethiopian government.

The crown began to be on display Thursday at the national museum in Addis Ababa.

© 2020 AFP