Last week, Egyptian officials received at least 39 artifacts recovered and sent by US authorities, which might head to the new Giza museum.
The artifacts were sent to Egypt in three installments. The first batch, consisting of 11 items, was sent in May by the New York District Attorney’s Office. DA Alvin Bragg‘s Antiquities Trafficking Unit (ATU), which has been at the helm of the recovery of major smuggled artifacts in the past few years, oversaw it. Then, the Metropolitan Museum of Art handed over 25 Coptic and Syrian manuscripts. Recently, the ATU returned more artifacts to Egypt, though their count or details were not disclosed.
The returned items include a Roman head statue (1st – 4th century CE), a bronze figurine of a squatting man, a turquoise bowl depicting a lion, and an Egyptian statue depicting a kneeling figure. While authorities said the returned artifacts would go to the Egyptian Museum, it was not specified whether it would be the older museum in Cairo or the newly-inaugrated museum near Giza.
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Egyptian media advisor Nevine El-Aref said that Egypt has been putting a renewed focus on bringing back all stolen artifacts to the country. He said, “Any artifact that belongs to Egypt’s heritage is important. Even if it’s a small stone, it is important to bring it back to Egypt, where it belongs. It is very important for Egypt to preserve its archaeological heritage and its history and pass it on to the next generations.”
