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Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
US returns 25 smuggled ancient artifacts to Egypt, officials say
Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced this week it had successfully recovered a rare trove of smuggled artifacts from the United States, concluding a three-year diplomatic effort between the countries. Gilded coffin lids from the Pharaonic era, gold funerary masks and what's believed to be fragments of Queen Hatshepsut's ancient temple were among the 25 items accepted in Cairo on Monday. MORE: Stolen artifacts sold to US collectors will be repatriated to Cambodia, officials say The items spanned centuries and included a range of styles from different eras of ancient Egyptian civilization, the ministry said. A portrait of a mummy from Faiyum, Egypt, a gold coin from the reign of Ptolemy I -- a Greek general and successor of Alexander the Great -- and jewelry pieces that date back 2,400 years were also among the items returned, according to the ministry. The pieces were recovered in New York City in coordination between Egypt's consulate, the New York District Attorney's Office and American security agencies, the Egyptian antiquities ministry said in a press release. Officials did not specify how the artifacts were smuggled from Egypt or how they surfaced in America, but said the recovery was part of a continued effort to "combat illegal trade in cultural properties." MORE: US Returns Seized Artifacts to Egyptian Government, Including Mummies Similarly, in 2016 the U.S. returned a collection of stolen artifacts to Egypt, including an ancient wooden sarcophagus, a mummy shroud and mummified hand. "While we recognize that cultural property, art, and antiquities are assigned a dollar value in the marketplace, the cultural and symbolic worth of these Egyptian treasures far surpasses any monetary value to the people of Egypt," U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Sarah R. Saldaña in a statement at the time. That same year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement had returned more than 200 artifacts to India, as well as a stolen copy of Christopher Columbus' 1493 letter describing his discoveries in the Americas to Italy. US returns 25 smuggled ancient artifacts to Egypt, officials say originally appeared on
13-05-2025
US returns 25 smuggled ancient artifacts to Egypt, officials say
Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced this week it had successfully recovered a rare trove of smuggled artifacts from the United States, concluding a three-year diplomatic effort between the countries. Gilded coffin lids from the Pharaonic era, gold funerary masks and what's believed to be fragments of Queen Hatshepsut's ancient temple were among the 25 items accepted in Cairo on Monday. The items spanned centuries and included a range of styles from different eras of ancient Egyptian civilization, the ministry said. A portrait of a mummy from Faiyum, Egypt, a gold coin from the reign of Ptolemy I -- a Greek general and successor of Alexander the Great -- and jewelry pieces that date back 2,400 years were also among the items returned, according to the ministry. The pieces were recovered in New York City in coordination between Egypt's consulate, the New York District Attorney's Office and American security agencies, the Egyptian antiquities ministry said in a press release. Officials did not specify how the artifacts were smuggled from Egypt or how they surfaced in America, but said the recovery was part of a continued effort to "combat illegal trade in cultural properties." Similarly, in 2016 the U.S. returned a collection of stolen artifacts to Egypt, including an ancient wooden sarcophagus, a mummy shroud and mummified hand. "While we recognize that cultural property, art, and antiquities are assigned a dollar value in the marketplace, the cultural and symbolic worth of these Egyptian treasures far surpasses any monetary value to the people of Egypt," U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Sarah R. Saldaña in a statement at the time. That same year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement had returned more than 200 artifacts to India, as well as a stolen copy of Christopher Columbus' 1493 letter describing his discoveries in the Americas to Italy.
CBS News
13-05-2025
- CBS News
U.S. returns parts of queen's temple, ancient gold coin and other rare smuggled artifacts to Egypt, officials say
Sarcophagus lids, a Greco-Roman portrait and fragments of what is believed to be a temple of Queen Hatshepsut were among 25 rare artifacts returned to Egypt from the United States, the Egyptian antiquities ministry said Monday. The pieces -- spanning centuries of Egyptian civilization — were handed over following a three-year recovery effort by Egypt's consulate in New York, the New York District Attorney's Office and U.S. security agencies, the ministry said in a news release. The collection includes wooden and gilded sarcophagus lids dating back more than 5,500 years, parts of a temple believed to belong to Queen Hatshepsut and a Greco-Roman mummy portrait from Fayyoum — a southern city renowned for its distinctive Greco-Roman art. The trove also features intricately crafted jewelry from around 2,400 years ago, a granite foot fragment dating back to the Ramessid dynasty, during the peak of Egypt's power, as well as small ivory and stone figurines. A rare gold coin dating back over two millennia to the reign of Ptolemy I — one of Alexander the Great's generals and founder of ancient Egypt's last royal dynasty — is also part of the collection. The ministry released five images of the artifacts on social media. - مصر تسترد 25 قطعة أثرية من الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية - القطع كانت موجودة بالقنصلية المصرية في نيويورك وتم استردادها... Posted by Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities وزارة السياحة والآثار on Monday, May 12, 2025 The antiquities were seized in separate investigations beginning in 2022 and were held at Egypt's consulate in New York until their return to Cairo on Sunday, according to the ministry's statement. Officials did not reveal exactly how the artifacts left Egypt or how they surfaced in the U.S. However, such thefts are not uncommon. During the 2011 uprising that ousted longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak, looters ransacked museums and archaeological sites in the chaos, spiriting away thousands of priceless pieces. Many of those artifacts later appeared on the international market or in private collections. Egyptian authorities say they have succeeded in bringing home nearly 30,000 artifacts over the past decade. In 2023, an ancient wooden sarcophagus was returned to Egypt after U.S. authorities determined it was looted years ago. The year before that, a stone sculpture that arrived in Memphis, Tennessee, was discovered to be a centuries-old artifact from Egypt. The artifact was confiscated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. In 2019, a stolen ancient Egyptian coffin that ended up being sold to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art for $4 million was given back to Egypt.
Egypt Today
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Egypt Today
Pics: Egypt recovers 25 rare smuggled artifacts from the US
Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigration Badr Abdelatty participated in the procedures of receiving rare artifacts after they had been smuggled to the US- press photo CAIRO – 13 May 2025: Egypt has received smuggled 25 rare artifacts from various eras of ancient Egyptian civilization, said the Egyptian Foreign Ministry in a statement on Monday evening. Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigration Badr Abdelatty participated in the procedures of the Antiquities Receipt Committee formed by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Tourism and Antiquities to recover the artifacts. This comes in line with the directives of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration to work continuously to recover Egyptian antiquities smuggled abroad. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the Egyptian Consulate General in New York, succeeded in shipping a collection of the largest illegally smuggled artifacts out of Egypt. These artifacts, comprised of 25 rare artifacts from various eras of ancient Egyptian civilization and distinguished by their great historical and artistic value, were shipped out. I The recovered collection includes stone and wooden coffin lids, funerary masks made of pottery and gilded wood, a large alabaster vase, and a portrait of a woman from the Fayum period, reflecting the mastery of realistic portraiture during the Greco-Roman era. The collection also includes various pieces of jewelry made of various metals, a rare gold coin dating back to the reign of Ptolemy I, and small bronze and stone statues depicting aspects of Egyptian belief and art from various historical periods. Minister Abdelatty emphasized the importance Egypt attaches to the issue of retrieving smuggled Egyptian antiquities and returning them to the homeland. He praised the tireless efforts of Egyptian embassies and consulates abroad, in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the Egyptian Public Prosecutor's Office, and relevant state agencies, to recover Egyptian antiquities and preserve the country's wealth.
Ammon
13-05-2025
- Ammon
Egypt retrieves 25 smuggled artifacts from U.S.
Ammon News - Twenty-five historically and artistically significant artifacts, spanning multiple periods of ancient Egyptian civilization, have been repatriated from the United States to Egypt, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday. The Egyptian Consulate General in New York oversaw the return of the artifacts, which the ministry described as the largest batch of illegally smuggled antiquities recovered in recent times. The collection includes stone and wooden sarcophagus lids, ceramic and gilded wooden funerary masks, a large alabaster vase, and a portrait of a woman dating back to the Greco-Roman period (around 332 BC-640 AD). Among the recovered items are also a wide range of jewelry crafted from various metals, a rare gold coin from the reign of Ptolemy I, and small bronze and stone statues depicting aspects of ancient Egyptian beliefs and artistic traditions. The recovery was the result of a joint effort between the Egyptian Consulate General in New York, the related district attorney's office in New York City, and U.S. security agencies. The operation also involved prolonged negotiations with several private collectors in possession of the artifacts. Additional support was provided by the relevant Egyptian authorities, including the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the Cultural Sector of the Foreign Ministry, and the Public Prosecution Service.
