Cairo - A delegation from Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) will head to Spain to bring back three items of Pharaonic antiquities, SCA Secretary-General Zahi Hawas said Thursday.

Hawas said that the pieces, which had been displayed at the Egyptian museum in Barcelona belong to the "New Kingdom" era, which began with the 18th Pharaonic dynasty during the 16th century BC and lasted until the rule of the ancient Greeks in Egypt.

"One piece is a (sculpture of the) head of an unknown man, the (second) a bust of a nobleman made of granite, and (the third) a part of a tomb with two women depicted on it," Hawas said.

The delegation is due to leave on Friday, Hawas said.

The SCA knew the pieces were being displayed in Barcelona in 2004, along with a fourth one, which was later discovered to be fake. The SCA will provide the museum in Spain with three replicas in return for the antiquities.

In the past few years, Egypt has recovered around 5,200 pieces, that had been smuggled out of the country and displayed abroad. (dpa)