News: No Unauthorized Egyptian Artifacts at Louvre Abu Dhabi - Cairo

The Egyptian cabinet's Information and Decision Support Center has denied media reports that Egyptian pharaonic antiquities have been sold or smuggled to the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Louvre museum, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel,
surrounded by sea water. The Louvre Abu Dhabi opens
its doors to the public on November 11, 2017

In an official statement on Tuesday, the IDSC said that the antiquities ministry has said that Egypt has not sent any antiquities to make a debut at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, set to be officially inaugurated in November.

Images have been circulating on social media showing a number of Emirati officials inspecting pharaonic antiquities inside the museum, raising speculation that Egypt had given up the items.

The ministry clarified that the antiquities pictured were from archaeological collections already in the Paris Louvre. The Paris branch of the museum currently includes about 50,000 pieces in its Egyptian collection, dating from 4,000 BC to the fourth century AD.

"Egypt has no right to interfere to stop the antiquities from being presented based on the law," the IDSC statement added, pointing that the acquisition of any antiquities by international museums was "legal."

"The antiquities were transferred outside the country legitimately before the issuing of a 1983 law that banned the trade in antiquities," the IDSC said, adding that prior to the passing of the law, countries that conducted excavations in Egypt had the right to have a share in the antiquities found. This is not the first series of denials by officials on the issue.

On Monday, the head of the Egyptian museums department at the antiquities ministry, Elham Saleh, denied the rumors that the Abu Dhabi items had been smuggled out of Egypt, calling on the media to ensure the accuracy of their reports.

Egypt has been making efforts to retrieve smuggled artifacts from foreign countries. It has called upon other countries to prevent illegal exchange, transfer, import or re-export of antiquities within their territories. The Louvre Abu Dhabi is the result of a 2007 agreement between the UAE and France.

Source: Ahram Online

News, Giza: Egyptian Antiquities Ministry Inspects Khufu's Boat After Accident Causes 'Mild' Damage To Beam

The accident occurred at the site where the ancient boat is being removed from its burial pit. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref. 

The crane used in lifting up the beams from the pit

A team of archaeologists and restorers were dispatched on Monday to the Giza Plateau to inspect work achieved at Khufu’s second boat project, and to investigate the condition of a damaged beam.

Since 2010, a Japanese-Egyptian team has been working to lift, restore and reconstruct the ancient boat, 4,500 years after it was buried as part of King Khufu's funeral rites. So far, 745 pieces of the 1,264 pieces of the whole boat have been removed from the excavation pit.

Ayman Ashmawi, the head of the Ancient Egyptian Department at the Ministry of Antiquities, told Ahram Online that the boat beam was damaged by accident when a crane malfunctioned, leading it to come into direct contact with a beam within the pit.

the crane lifting up a beam inside the pit

"A very small part of the beam was subjected to a very mild deterioration which does not have any impact on the beam itself and could be easily restored during the restoration work carried out by the efficient and skillful Japanese-Egyptian team," Ashmawi asserted, adding that his observation and the team escorted him during his inspection tour confirm the report submitted by the project team.

Ashmawi told Ahram Online that a committee from the Projects Department at the ministry is to be assigned to re-inspect the beam in order to make another report. He also said that the whole case is now under an administrative investigation in order to find out if there was any employee failure related to the incident.

Eissa Zidan, director-general of first aid restoration at the project, explained that the pit houses around 1,264 wooden beams in 13 different layers. The majority of the beams are in a very bad conservation condition while a minority are almost fully decomposed.

A total of 732 excavated pieces have so far been restored, Zidan said, and a collection of 560 pieces have been transported to the Grand Egyptian Museum overlooking Giza plateau.

There are plans to lift and restore all the beams in an attempt to reconstruct the boat and put it on display beside the first boat discovered in 1954 by Egyptian historian Kamal El-Malakh and restored by well-known restorer Ahmed Youssef.

Source: Ahram Online

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News: The Fight to Preserve Architectural Heritage of Egypt's Alexandria

Confronting the demolition of Alexandria’s historical building is a multi-layered task, argues prominent architect and founder of the Alexandria Preservation Trust Mohamed Awad. Written By/ Dina Ezzat.

The Zogheb palace, which was originally owned by a Syrian-Italian family and built
in 1877, and is one of the oldest buildings on Fouad street, is pictured in
Alexandria, Egypt Feb. 22, 2016. (Photo: Reuters)

A beautiful four-floor early 20th century apartment building is being knocked down on Fouad Street at the heart of Alexandria, much to the consternation of inhabitants who have lived through what was arguably the city’s belle époque.

Another apartment building overlooking the corniche of Alexandria, in El-Shatby neighbourhood, has also been evacuated in anticipation of a demolition that architectural heritage preservation activists are campaigning against on social media.

“I am not sure if the campaign will succeed,” lamented Mohamed Awad, the prominent architect who has dedicated years to the preservation and documentation of the architectural heritage of Alexandria’s city centre.

Awad told Ahram Online that the problem is that neither building had ever been put on the list of historic buildings that he helped compose during his days as the head of the Alexandria Preservation Trust (APT).

The list includes 1,135 buildings – 33 of which have exquisite architectural decoration – 63 zones, and 38 streets. Fouad Street, at the very heart of the city centre, is obviously on the list.

However, in the technical sense, preserving a historic street would not necessarily involve a prohibition on knocking down all its old buildings – especially if the owners of the building manage to provide municipal authorities with a valid reason for the demolition.

According to Awad, this reason could be a technical argument, such as fears about the building's possible collapse, or just a "sufficiently convincing argument" that the owner needs to replace a four-floor building that has two apartments on each floor with a higher structure that can accommodate more apartments.

Since he started his work as head of the APT over 40 years ago, Awad has seen the demolition of numerous historic buildings in Alexandria, notable for their architectural value, the events they witnessed or the inhabitants they had accommodated.

Awad particularly laments the demolition of Villa Aghion in 2014. The villa was constructed in the early 1920s by prominent French architect Auguste Perret, “whose gems in France are protected by UNESCO.”

Awad also grieves over the fate of the Villa Cicurel, which was demolished in 2015 and carried the name of one of the most prominent Jewish families of early 20th century Egypt, who owned an elegant department store chain. The villa was constructed in the early 1930s by two prominent French architects; Leon Azema and Jacques Hardy.

“These are just two examples, but we have seen other historic buildings demolished despite being included on the preservation list and despite elementary court rulings [against the demolition],” Awad said..... READ MORE.

Source: Ahram Online

News, Cairo: Egyptian Museum Celebrates Flooding Of The Nile

Free Arabic and English guided tours at the Egyptian Museum are being organised to celebrate the ancient flooding of the Nile festival. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The Ostrava Exhibited As The Piece Of The Month

To celebrate Flooding of the Nile Day, the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square is organising two free guided tours for evening visitors.

Elham Salah, head of the Museums Sector at the Ministry of Antiquities, revealed that the tours would be in Arabic and be held 18 and 24 August, during the museum’s evening open hours.

Salah said that guided tours in English would be provided on request during the same hours of the Arabic tours. Sabah Abdel Razak, director general of the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, explained that the tours would go through all exhibited artifacts connected to the Nile, such as boats and the Nilometer.

The museum”s August piece of the month is a limestone Ostrava depicting the Nile god Hapi.

The flooding of the Nile is an important ancient Egyptian festival celebrating the natural cycle of the Nile flood. It was celebrated by ancient Egyptians as an annual holiday for two weeks starting 15 August, and known as Wafaa El-Nil.

Source: Ahram Online

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News: Egypt Foils Attempt To Smuggle Collection Of Coins From Different Eras

The Seized Atlas & Some Of The Seized Coins

The Archaeological Unit at Egypt’s Red Sea port of Safaga seized 204 coins from different historical eras that were being smuggled from Egypt to Dubai, according to Dr Aymen Ashmawi, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Ministry of Antiquities.

Ahmed El-Rawi, head of Central Administration of the Archaeological Units in Egyptian Ports, said that the coins include 17 metal coins from the Graeco-Roman era, one from the Umayyad period, two from the Ottoman era and 10 from Khedival Egypt.

Coins from other countries were also seized.

Mohamed Etman, director of the Bahariya Archaeological Unit, said that the unit also confiscated an old Atlas Book from 1922.

Source: Ahram Online

New Discovery, Luxor: Inscriptions Showing Early Hieroglyphic Writing Discovered at Site South of Luxor

Many of the rock inscriptions date from the Predynastic Period (4,000-3,500BC) Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

An archaeological mission from Yale University has discovered a new rock inscription site near the village of El-Khawy near Luxor, during their excavation work on the Elkab Desert Survey Project in collaboration with the Ministry of Antiquities.

The inscriptions range in date from the early Predynastic Period, which spanned approx. 4,000 to 3,500 BC, through to the Old Kingdom (approx. 2,686 BC to 2181 BC). The village of El-Khawy is located approximately 7km north of the ancient city of Elkab and 60km south of Luxor.

Mahmoud Afifi, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Section at the ministry explained that the site is composed of several panels of rock art and inscriptions which include some of the earliest—and largest—signs from the formative stages of the hieroglyphic script, and provides evidence for how the ancient Egyptians invented their unique writing system.

Hani Abu ElAzem, head of the Central Department of Upper Egypt Antiquities, described the discovery as important because it helps in understanding the development of a system of graphic communication, which sets the stage for the appearance of true hieroglyphic writing in Upper Egypt in approx. 3,250 BC.

John Coleman Darnell, the head of the archaeological mission, said the inscriptions were discovered on high rock faces overlooking the modern railroad and the earliest one shows animal images—especially a herd of large elephants—some of which develop into symbols of political power associated with late Predynastic rulers. The most important inscription is found at the northern end of the site dates to the final phase of the Predynastic Period (the Naqada III phase or Dynasty 0, approx. 3,250-3,100 BC.)

He continued that the mission also discovered a panel of four signs, written right to left (the dominant writing direction in later Egyptian texts) featuring a bull’s head on a short pole, followed by two back-to-back saddle bill storks with a bald ibis above and between them. This panel is one of the largest yet discovered from Dynasty 0.

Darnell continues that rock art in the Eastern and Western deserts of Egypt demonstrates that ancient artists often interacted with earlier images—clustering similar images or images with related meanings on the same rock surface.

By the last phase of the Predynastic Period, rock art and other objects from the Nile Valley could use images to express concepts, such as the saddle bill stork with a serpent beneath its beak meaning “victory.”

“These symbols are not phonetic writing, but appear to provide the intellectual background for moving from depictions of the natural world to hieroglyphs that wrote the sounds of the ancient Egyptian language,” Darnell said, adding that the newly discovered inscriptions at El-Khawy provide another example of this important transitional phase.

The team of archaeologists located these inscriptions by mapping out routes based on road networks in Egypt. Most rock inscriptions in Egypt, Darnell said, are not randomly placed; they are placed along major roads, either roads that parallel the Nile or roads that head out into the desert. They are usually at a juncture or crossroads. “Any place where someone might pause in their journey,” said Darnell.

Using a new recording technique pioneered at Yale, Darnell and Alberto Urcia, a digital archaeologist and associate research scientist in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, created a series of 3D images of the inscriptions from photographs taken in the field.

“This new technology makes it possible to record sites at a level of accuracy and detail that was absolutely impossible before,” said Darnell. “It also means that we can record the site as a place, or a location, and not just as a series of inscriptions.” “This was not what I was expecting to find when I set out on this period of work on the expedition,” said Darnell. “It was completely shocking to me.”

Source: Ahram Online

Find More About New Discoveries in Egypt Here &  About Luxor City' Treasures Click Here

Back Home: Egypt Says It Retrieved 4 Stolen Artifacts From Britain

The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced on Tuesday that it has retrieved from the United Kingdom four artifacts that had been stolen and smuggled out of Egypt.

The artifacts have now been restored in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the ministry added in a statement.

Shaaban Abdel Gawad, a ministry official, said that two of the artifacts were displayed at an auction house in the UK while the two other pieces were in the possession of an antiquities dealer in London.

Two of the artifacts were stolen during the security mayhem that prevailed in the wake of the 2011 Uprising, which resulted in the ousting of long-time president Hosni Mubarak, while the other two were stolen in 2013, according to the ministry.

In 2011, Egypt witnessed a period of security chaos during which the rate of antiquities thefts increased by 90 per cent compared to the pre-2011 rate, according to previous statements made by Egyptian officials.

Egypt seeks to regain illegally smuggled antiquities that date back to the pharaonic era.

Source: Middle East Monitor

To Read All Back Home Antiquities Posts Click Here 

Recovered Artifacts, France: Ancient Egyptian Limestone Relief Recovered From Paris

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.

Source: Ahram Online

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Recent News, Cairo: Newly Discovered Matariya Colossus Is Probably of King Psammetich - Ministry

The newly discovered Matariya colossus most likely belongs to the 26 dynasty king Psammetich I, not King Ramses II as initially believed, says antiquities minister. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany said on Thursday that the royal colossus discovered last week in Matariya district, Cairo is probably a statue of 26 dynasty king Psammetich I not King Ramses II as believed earlier. Hieroglyphic signs and initial studies carried out on fragments of the colossus suggest that it belongs to king Psammetich I(664-610 BC)-26 Dynasty, El-Enany said.

The minister explains that the torso’s back-pillar has preserved one of the five names of king Psammetich I. "If it belongs to this king, then it is the largest statue of the Late Period that was ever discovered in Egypt," he said. This date explains the puzzling features of different ancient stylistic details since the Late Period, which is known for its archaizing art.

Dietrich Raue, the head of the German archaeological mission which participated in the discovery mission, pointed out that the colossal statue is carved in quartzite which was hailed from from Al-Gebel Al-Ahmar in what is now modern eastern Cairo. The statue originally measured about 9 meters in height. The two fragments of the statue were discovered under the water table, which made their location and extraction extremely difficult, Raue explains. The fragments were found adjacent to a heavily congested housing area, two to three meters beneath water levels.

Mahmoud Afifi, the head of the Ancient Egyptian Sector at the ministry, explains that both fragments were moved and successfully saved by a team of the ministry's restorers and archaeologists from Matariya Antiquities Inspectorate and skilled workmen from Qift.

Both parts and a collection of recently discovered artifacts in Matariya were transported today - with the help of the Transportation Department of Egypt’s Armed Forces - to the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir for restoration and temporary exhibition. It will be later tranferred to its permanent home at the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), which scheduled for a soft opening in mid-2018.

Aymen Ashmawi, the head of the Egyptian mission, said the artifact that is on show with the fragments of the royal colossus includes a relief of King Ramses II. It features King Ramses II with an extended right arm, performing the ritual of anointing the representation of the cult-statue of a goddess. The goddess can be identified by other blocks from this area as Mut.

This relief was found in the remains of a second temple of King Ramses II. The temple of Matariya is well known as one of the most important sites of pharaonic religion, since it was considered to be the place of the world`s creation by the sun-god. For about 2400 years, most kings erected their monuments in the temple.

Because of the vicinity's proximity to modern Cairo, the site was heavily destroyed in antiquity, from the Late Roman times onwards to the Mameluk era in medieval times.The blocks of the temple were used to build various monuments in Old Cairo such as Bab el-Nasr and others. More monuments could be found in Matariya.

Source: Ahram Online

News, Cairo: Second Half of Statue Found in Cairo's Matariya To be Lifted from Ground

The statue was found in wasteland inbetween apartment blocks on the site
of the ancient capital, Heliopolis                 

The eight metre quartzite statue was found near the temple of Ramses II in the temple precinct of ancient Heliopolis in Greater Cairo. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The German Egyptian Archaeological mission in collaboration with the Egyptian antiquities ministry have taken measures to secure the lift on Monday of the second part of a large statue discovered in the ground of the Souq El-Khamis area in El-Matariya last week.

The first part of the eight metre quartzite statue, which the archaeologists believe could be of Ramses II, was removed from the ground on Thursday.

Mahmoud Afifi, head of the ministry's Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Department told Ahram Online that the team laid bedded ropes under the part of the statue set to be lifted Monday, often used with heavy antiquities.

Head of First Aid Conservation at the Grand Egyptian Museum Eissa Zidan said the team extracted a water sample where the statue was found and determined that the water was neutral to alkaline. 

This knowledge will allow the team to take the appropriate steps to preserve the statue.

The part of the statue pulled out on Thursday has been packed in treated materials, and will undergo a process of wetting with neutral water and perforation to ensure that it adapts gradually to an above ground environment.

Source: Ahram Online

News, Cairo: Egyptologist Hawass Refutes Reports Colossal Statue Was Damaged During Excavation

Archaeologists from Egypt and Germany found the massive eight-metre statue - believed to be of Ramsis II - submerged in ground-water in Cairo last week, and used a winch to recover it. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The newly discovered statue suggested to be for King Ramses II. 

Photo by Magdi Abdel Sayed

In the wake of the discovery of a colossal statue assumed to be Ramses II in Cairo earlier this week, Egyptologist Zahi Hawass refuted local media reports that charged the use of a winch to haul part of the monument out of the pit it was found in damaged the artefact.

Hawass, a former antiquities minister, told Ahram Online that using a winch was “the only efficient way” to remove the 7-ton piece of the statue from the two-metre ditch. “Souq El-Khamis area in Matariya where the statue was discovered is a very important archaeological site which does not have any complete statues, tombs or temples,” Hawass said.

Initial reports by some Egyptian media outlets had suggested that the winch had damaged the statue, or had broken it into pieces. However, according to ministry officials, the statue was discovered already in pieces.

Archaeologists from Egypt and Germany found the massive eight-metre statue submerged in ground water last week, which they say probably depicts revered Pharaoh Ramses II, who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago.

The discovery, hailed by the antiquities ministry as one of the most important ever, was made near the ruins of Ramses II's temple in the ancient city of Heliopolis, located in the eastern part of modern-day Cairo in the working-class neighbourhood of Matariya.

Head of the newly discovered statue of king Seti II. 

The site was subjected to deterioration and damage during Egypt’s Christian period because the area was used as a quarry for constructing other buildings, Hawass said. “It is impossible to find any complete full-sized statue,” Hawass said, adding that any statue that would be uncovered in the future will be found in pieces, like this one.

He argued that the Matariya area, a poor suburb of Cairo, suffers from three main problems. Its modern residential houses were built on top of the remains of ancient Egyptian temples and tombs which are submerged in subterranean water extended from two to four metres deep. “This is a fact that made it too difficult to transport or remove any of the blocks [from these structures].”

Hawass told Ahram Online that he called the German excavation mission head, Dietrich Raue, who sent him a complete report on the excavations with photographs revealing the lifting process. “The transportation and removal process of any heavy colossus like the one discovered is carried out in collaboration with the head of workmen from the upper Egyptian town of Qift who are skilled and very highly trained in such work,” Hawass said.

Hawass explained that similar workmen work in the Saqqara necropolis and belong to the El-Krity family, who have been able to transport and lift up a large number of huge sarcophagi and colossi that each could reach 20 tons.

Hawass also said that the newly discovered statue definitely belongs to the 19th dynasty king, Ramses II, because it was found at the entrance to his temple. He noted that the area, in which he had carried out excavations, held the remains of temples belonging to pharaohs Akhenaton, Thutmose III and Ramses II. “I am very happy to hear about such a discovery because it will not only reveal a part of ancient Egyptian history but it will also help promote tourism to Egypt,” Hawass said.

Source: Ahram Online

New Discovery, Cairo: New Discovery Reveals Grandeur of Oun Temple in Ancient Heliopolis

The newly discovered statue suggested to be for King Ramses II. 

Photo by Magdi Abdel Sayed

A quartzite colossus possibly of Ramses II and limestone bust of Seti II were discovered at the ancient Heliopolis archaeological site in Cairo. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany witnessed on Thursday the lifting of two newly discovered 19th dynasty royal statues from a pit at the Souq Al-Khamis district in the Al-Matariya area of greater Cairo.

The statues were found in parts in the vicinity of the King Ramses II temple in the temple precinct of ancient Heliopolis, also known as “Oun,” by a German-Egyptian archaeological mission.

El-Enany inspects a part of the newly discovered statue.

Mahmoud Afifi, Head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities at the Ministry said that what has been found of the first statue is an 80cm tall bust of King Seti II carved in limestone with fine facial features. 

The second statue was found in large pieces. It appears to have been 8 metres long and carved in quartzite. 

"Although there are no engravings that could identify such a statue, its existence at the entrance of King Ramses II’ temple suggests that it could belong to him," Afifi told Ahram Online.

Aymen Ashmawy, Head of the Egyptian team on the mission described the discovery as "very important" because it shows that the Oun temple was enormous with magnificent structures, distinguished engravings, soaring colossi and obelisks. 

Regretfully, he said, the temple suffered damages during the Graeco-Roman period, and most of its obelisks and colossi were transported to Alexandria and Europe. 

Head of the newly discovered statue of king Seti II. 

During the Islamic era, the blocks of the temple were used in the construction of Historic Cairo.

At the site, El-Enany said the parts of the statue that appears to be associated with Ramses II will be transported to the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) for restoration and display when the museum opens. 

El-Enany said the newly discovered artifacts would be placed, meanwhile, in a temporary exhibition at the Egyptian Museum.

Head of the German mission Dietrich Raue said excavations would continue in search of other statues and artefacts that could reveal more of the ancient sun city’s secrets.

Source: Ahram Online

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Recovered Artifacts, UK: Two More Ancient Egyptian Artifacts Recovered from London

Two ancient Egyptian pieces carved in glass were handed over to Egypt’s embassy in London. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

one of the recovered objects/ photo courtesy of 

the ministry of antiquities

Two ancient Egyptian artifacts carved in glass were recovered on Thursday after being handed over to the Egyptian embassy in London. Both objects were stolen and illegally smuggled out of the country. Shaaban Abdel Gawad, the supervisor-general of the Antiquities Repatriation department, said that both artifacts depict human faces.

The first one was stolen from the storehouses of Al-Qantara East city, after being damaged and looted amid the security vacuum following the January 2011 Revolution.

The second, he said, was stolen from the El-Sheikh Ebada site in the Upper Egyptian city of Minya. With the return of these two objects, Abdel Gawad told Ahram Online, Egypt has in total recently recovered four items.

He continued to explain that the first was a limestone relief that was stolen from Queen Hatshepsut’s temple in El-Deir El-Bahari in Luxor. It was chopped off a wall and illegally smuggled out of the country.

The relief was stolen from the temple in 1975 and resurfaced earlier this month at a small auction hall in Spain, where it was bought by a British antiquities dealer. Two months ago the relief was recovered. The second was an ushabti figurine from Qubet Al-Hawa necropolis store gallery in Aswan and was handed over to the Egyptian embassy in London two days ago.

Source: Ahram Online

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Recovered Artifacts, UK: Ushabti Figurine to Be Recovered From London

The recovered ushabti figurine

A wooden Ushabti figurine stolen from an Aswan storehouse to be returned from London. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

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.

Source: Ahram Online

All Previous Recovered Artifacts Posts Click Here

News, Cairo: Royal Golden Ring Stored In Egyptian Museum Not Stolen As Claimed

The Ministry of Antiquities denies claims on social media about the disappearance of a royal golden ring stored in the Egyptian Museum. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The Golden Ring

Elham Salah, head of the Museums Department at the Ministry of Antiquities, has told Ahram Online that claims published on social media that an ancient royal golden ring has been stolen from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square are "unfounded." The ring remains in the store galleries of the museum.

Salah explained that the ring was among items selected to be on display in a special temporary exhibition in 2002 inside the museum, along with other objects from the museum's collection and artifacts from the store galleries of Saqqara and the Giza Plateau. Regretfully, Elham continued, the ring was not put on show and returned to the store galleries.

A few days ago, a researcher reportedly arrived to the museum and asked to examine the ring. The museum's curator asked the researcher to give them time to remove the ring from its wooden box in the store gallery, while most curators at time were busy filing an inventory of all the museum's treasured collection.

Rumors apparently started on social media saying that the ring had disappeared having been stolen. An archaeological committee was then formed to open the box and photograph the ring in order to prove that the ring is safe in the museum's galleries and is not stolen as claimed.

Source: Ahram Online

All Previous Posts About Egyptian Museum  Click Here

News, Cairo: Ancient Egyptian Goddess of Protection to Greet Arriving Travelers at Cairo Airport

A replica statue of the deity Serquet will be erected in Terminal 2. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The Replica Statue of Serqet

The Egyptian goddess of protection, Serqet, is to welcome Egypt’s visitors at Cairo International Airport starting Thursday, when a replica statue of the deity will be erected in Terminal 2.

Amr El-Tibi, the executive director of the antiquities ministry's Antiquity Replicas Unit, told Ahram Online that the statue will be taken from the unit’s factory in Cairo’s Citadel to the airport on Thursday morning.

The statue is a gift from the antiquities ministry to the civil aviation ministry, El-Tibi said, in an attempt to encourage tourism as well as to highlight the ongoing cooperation between the two ministries, as well as the tourism ministry.

El-Tibi explained that the polyester statue is four metres tall, weighs 150kg, and took two months to make. It is made of polyester and depicts Serquet, one of the four protective ancient Egyptian deities who stretch their arms to protect Tutankhamun's golden shrine. She wears a scorpion on her head.

Last month the antiquities ministry offered Ecuador a replica statue of Ramses II, which is similar to the authentic one that was transported in 2006 from Ramses Square in downtown Cairo to the Grand Egyptian Museum overlooking Giza Plateau, which is yet to open.

The statue was erected in Quito's Condado Square which was subsequently renamed Egypt Square.

Source: Ahram Online