Egypt
recovered a limestone relief and a collection of 44 cosmetic containers from
France. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.
Egypt’s
Ministry of Antiquities officially received today an ancient Egyptian limestone
relief, which has been recovered from France, during a ceremony held at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Cairo.
Shaaban
Abdel-Gawad, the general supervisor of the ministry’s Antiquities Repatriation
Department, says that the relief was on display at a Paris auction house. The
ministry took all the necessary procedures to stop the sale of the relief and
have it withdrawn from the auction.
Abdel-Gawad
said that the relief was stolen from a temple at Saqqara necropolis during the
1900s and smuggled out of the country.
The
relief, which is dated to the 30th Dynasty during the reign of King Nakhtenbo
II, is about 44X50 cm in size and weighs about 80kg.
It
is carved in limestone and depicts the goddess Sekhmet carrying the sun disk on
top of her head. It has a line of hieroglyphic writing that contains the
cartouche of King Nekhtenbo II.
Abdel-Gawad
said that the ministry has also received a collection of 44 small and
medium-sized artefacts that had been seized at Charles de Gaulle Airport in
France.
The
collection includes cosmetic and jewellery containers made of beads, ivory, and
bone, with some dating from different ancient Egyptian eras, though most are
dated to the Coptic era.
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