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The recovered ushabti figurine
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The
Egyptian embassy in London received a wooden Ushabti figurine that was stolen
in 2013 from an Aswan storehouse and illegally smuggled out of the country. The
figurine is to be returned to Egypt soon.
Shaaban
Abdel Gawad, the head of the antiquities repatriation department at the
Ministry of Antiquities, told Ahram Online that the Ushabti was uncovered in
2009 by a Spanish archaeological mission in Qubet Al Hawa necropolis in Aswan
and was stored among other artifacts in the storehouses.
In
2013, following the departure of the mission, the Aswan storehouse was
subjected to looting and the Ushabti figurine was stolen, along with other
artifacts. The
statuette is 16.5 cm tall and carved in wood with golden decorative elements.
In
2016, Abdel Gawad explained, a curator at the British Museum in London noticed
the figurine with a British citizen and reported the incident to the
antiquities ministry. After
diplomatic negotiations, the Ushabti was recovered and handed to the Egyptian
embassy in London.
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