Among
the artifacts were fragments of a sarcophagus, two cat statues, and a human
head carved in basalt. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.
A
collection of nine smuggled artifacts recovered from France were handed over to
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Ministry of Antiquities on Thursday.
Eight
of these artifacts were seized from a passenger travelling to London at a train
station in France in 2012, according to Shaaban Abdel-Gawad, head of the
repatriation department at the Ministry of Antiquities, speaking to Ahram
Online. Among the artifacts were five fragments of an ancient Egyptian
sarcophagus, two cat statues, and a human head carved in basalt.
The
collection was confiscated by the French police and, after a series of legal
and diplomatic procedures to prove ownership, Egypt recovered the artifacts in
2014.
The
Ministry of Antiquities followed up the case over the following years in
collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign affairs, until French authorities
returned the artifacts to the Egyptian embassy in Paris at the end of 2017,
Abdel-Gawad told Ahram Online.
The
ninth object was observed in the collection of a Parisian auction hall, and
monitored by the Ministry of Antiquities. It was found to be one of a number of
artifacts stolen from the storage of Elephantine Island in 2013. The ministry
undertook legal procedures to prevent its sale, recovering and returning it to
the embassy at the end of 2017. The object is a wooden mummy mask covered with
plaster.
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