Latest news with #Ramessid
Business Insider
13-05-2025
- Business Insider
Egypt trounces infamous trafficking network to recover 25 rare antiquities
Egypt is set to reclaim 25 stolen rare antiques following a three-year recovery campaign involving the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, Egypt's consulate in New York, and US law enforcement authorities. Egypt recovered 25 rare antiques as part of a three-year campaign involving international law enforcement. These artifacts, spanning millennia, include items such as a gilt wooden coffin, Greco-Roman corpse image, and Ptolemaic gold coin. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has returned over $6.5 million worth of goods to Egypt since 2022. These artifacts, which span millennia of Egyptian civilization, were delivered to Egyptian officials in New York in early May 2024. Earlier in the month, the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg stated that eleven antiques altogether valued at $1.4 million had been restituted to Egyptian officials. The Manhattan DA's office has returned 27 goods totaling over $6.5 million to the Egyptian government since 2022. Currently, among the 25 objects recovered is a gilt wooden coffin from around 332-275 BCE. After changing hands several times, it was taken from Manhattan's Merrin Gallery in 2023. The collection also contains a Greco-Roman corpse image from Fayoum, temple remnants thought to be associated to Queen Hatshepsut, miniature ivory and stone sculptures, a granite foot piece from the Ramessid dynasty, and finely carved jewelry reaching back nearly 2,400 years. The collection also includes elaborately created jewelry from roughly 2,400 years ago, a granite foot part from the Ramessid dynasty, Egypt's zenith of power, and miniature ivory and stone sculptures. In addition, a unique gold coin going back more than two millennia to the time of Ptolemy I, one of Alexander the Great's generals and the founder of ancient Egypt's final royal dynasty, is set to be returned. Recent loss of Egyptian artifacts Amid the chaos of the 2011 revolution that overthrew Hosni Mubarak, several cultural assets vanished. Thousands of priceless artifacts were taken during the widespread looting of museums and archeological sites, and many eventually turned up in private collections or on the international black market. Some of Egypt's stolen artifcats as earlier reported by The Art Newspaper, were part of a bigger investigation into the Dib-Simonian trafficking network, which includes high-profile persons like as former Musée du Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez. The network enabled the sale of plundered cultural treasures to organizations such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Louvre Abu Dhabi. The ring's leader, Serop Simonian, was arrested in Germany and will be transferred to France in 2023. 'Egypt has an incredibly rich cultural history that we will not allow to be diminished by selfish looters and traffickers.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
U.S. returns trove of 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. 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. Josh's mom on making a move What will Pope Leo XIV mean for the Church? Why flights were delayed again at Newark airport even though backup system worked
