An Egyptian archaeological delegation returned home Monday from Paris after having retrieved locks of hair from the mummy of Ramses II, the official news agency MENA reported.

The French authorities handed over Ramses II's hair to the Egyptian embassy in Paris after arresting a French man who sought to sell them via the Internet for 2,500 euros.

The tress of Ramses II's hair has been lost for 32 years before appearing in France when it was offered for auction in the Internet last year.

The man said he had obtained the relic when his father worked on the pharaoh's mummy in France in the 1970s.

Ramses II's mummified body was moved to France in 1976 for treatment to stop it being destroyed by fungus.

Ramses II was the third Egyptian pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty ( about 1,279 BC - 1,213 BC). Ramses II's mummy was found in 1881.

Source: Xinhua