The statue was found in Berenice, an ancient port city in the south of Egypt. Egypt was at the heart of the trade route linking the Roman Empire to many parts of the ancient world.
The 71-centimetre statuette depicts Buddha in a robe, stripped of his limbs on the right side, with a halo surrounding his head in reference to the sun's rays. The country is trying to turn around its crucial tourism sector, which has largely suffered from political instability.