15 smuggled Egyptian artefacts that US officials recovered are returning home just days after they were collected. The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are now looking into the international trafficking of Egyptian artefacts. The recovery of these artefacts is a part of that investigation.
The investigation was launched after many artefacts, five of which are valued at USD 3 million, were taken from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Nine other artefacts were later found in the illegal possession of an American businessman.
Among the artefacts are five linen pieces from a wall that depicts the biblical Book of Exodus and dates to between 250 and 450 BC, a bronze statue of the well-known musician Kemes,
a limestone slab with Egyptian language and an offering scene etched on it, a portrait of a Roman-era woman from Fayoum, a coin from the Ptolemaic period, and more.
