Egypt repatriates a large collection of smuggled antiquities from Italy

Dr. Mostafa Waziry, announced that the smuggled antiquities were received in Egypt late on Friday night after the legal procedures were taken by the Ministry of Antiquities in cooperation with the Italian 
authorities.  

The repatriated antiquities are 21660 coins, 151 faience ushabti, 11 pottery pots, 5 mummies masks some of which are gold plated, wooden sarcophagus, 2 small funerary wooden boats, 2 canopic jars heads and 3 Islamic coloured tiles. 

The patriots antiquities will go through restoration at the Egyptian Museum labs in Tahrir before they will be display in a temporary exhibition soon.

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863 genuine artefacts were seized on Cairo-Suez road

According to Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim, Minister State of Antiquities, after forming a committee headed by Dr. Yousif Khalifa, Director of the Central Stolen Antiquities Administration, to examine the seized  number of artifacts seized by the Police in a private car after an attempt of escape by the driver when he was stopped at a check point on Cairo-Suez road. The examination resulted in 863 genuine objects.

Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim, said that the recovered pieces dated back to different eras including Old Kingdom, New Kingdom, Graeco-Roman and Islamic. The Minister believes that they are probably were obtained during illegal digs in various parts of the country. He also referred that there were a number of fake objects which the committee found unauthenticated.

Dr. Yousef Khalifa, said that of the most important objects are; a limestone basin dated to the Old Kingdom of 38.5 cm length, 24cm width and 11cm height with inscriptions in hieroglyphics contains the name of the Priest of King Senefru, a limestone tablet of the Old Kingdom as well with a depiction of the head and chest of Goddess Hathor holding a mace beside a black granite statue of Hathor dated to the New Kingdom of a 45cm height.

 The recovered objects contain 10 scarabs, 180 amulets, 120 Ptolemaic coins, 407 Roman coins of bronze, 3 Osirion wooden statues, limestone statue of 24cm height dated back to the First Intermediate Period, 22cm sand stone statue of a man wearing a long kilt dated to the First Intermediate Period and missing few parts by the head and right arm and shoulder which appears that it was recently restored, in addition to a false door on limestone dated to the Old Kingdom which has a depiction of the deceased sitting in front of offerings and inscriptions listing offerings for the deceased are carved along the side panels.

The sword is Not stolen … Neither the dagger … on display at the Museum of Islamic Art

Dr. Mohamed Abd El Maksoud (Secretary General of the SCA) announced that the sword and dagger which were dedicated by Taymour Pasha Family to the Museum of Islamic Art will be on display tomorrow (Sunday 17th July). This movement was to prove that the objects were not stolen as claimed by a journalist. Newspapers and media representatives were invited to witness the fact that the objects are still in the museum and to put an end to the rumors based on misleading information.