Ancient
Egyptian Mummies remains has been recovered from the United States. Written By/ Nevine
El-Aref.
The
Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities is set to recover from the US three fragments
from three different mummies that had been stolen and smuggled out of Egypt in
the early 20th century.
Shaaban
Abdel-Gawad, supervisor-general of the ministry’s Repatriation Department, told
Ahram Online that the fragments were seized in Manhattan when their owner tried
to sell them.
Abdel-Gawad
says that the fragments, which are in a very good conservation condition,
consist of two hands and a head from three mummies.
The
fragments had been bought by an American citizen in 1927 from an antiquities
worker who stole them from an illegal excavation at an archaeological site in
the Valley of the Kings in Luxor.
The
ministry has authenticated the fragments, which are being recovered in
accordance with Egyptian Antiquities law number 117/1983 and its amendment
number 3 for 2010.
“The
fragments are now in the possession of American authorities, and will be handed
over to the Egyptian embassy on 8 January at a large celebration in New York,”
Abdel-Gawad said.
