An ancient sarcophagus has been returned to Egypt from a museum in the US after authorities determined it was looted.
The 9.5-foot (3-meter) tall sarcophagus was housed at the Museum of Natural Science in Houston, Texas, until Egyptian authorities recovered it as part of government efforts to stop trafficking in stolen antiquities.
In 2021, the Cairo authorities managed to get 5,300 stolen artifacts returned to Egypt from around the world.
The sarcophagus dates back to the late dynastic period of ancient Egypt, according to Mostafa Waziri of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, an era that spanned from 664 B.C. C. until 332 a. C., under the campaign of Alexander the Great.
Although part of the inscription has been erased, Waziri believes that the sarcophagus may have belonged to an ancient priest named Ankhenmaat.
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, center right, and Mostafa Waziri
On Monday, the artifact was symbolically handed over at a ceremony in Cairo by Daniel Rubinstein, the US charge d’affaires in Egypt, three months after the Manhattan district attorney’s office determined it was looted from the Abu necropolis. Sir, north of Cairo.
“This impressive casket was trafficked by a well-organized ring that has looted countless antiquities from the region,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L Bragg said at the time.
“We are pleased that this object is being returned to Egypt, where it rightfully belongs.”
Mr. Waziri takes a look at an ancient wooden sarcophagus during the handover ceremony.
He added that around the same time in 2008, the criminal network smuggled in a gilded coffin that was on display at New York’s Metropolitan Museum after a Parisian art dealer brought it in for $4m (£3.3m) in 2017.
The coffin was returned to Egypt in 2019.
