Looted ancient sarcophagus returns to Egypt from US years after it was smuggled through Germany
- The repatriation is part of the Egyptian government’s efforts to stop the trafficking of its stolen antiquities
- The nearly three metre-tall sarcophagus that was featured at the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences was smuggled into the us through Germany in 2008
The repatriation is part of Egyptian government efforts to stop the trafficking of its stolen antiquities. In 2021, authorities in Cairo succeeded in getting 5,300 stolen artefacts returned to Egypt from across the world.
Mostafa Waziri, the top official at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the sarcophagus dates back to the Late Dynastic Period of ancient Egypt, an era that spanned the last of the Pharaonic rulers from 664 BC until Alexander the Great’s campaign in 332 BC.
The sarcophagus, almost three metres tall with a brightly painted top surface, may have belonged to an ancient priest named Ankhenmaat, though some of the inscription on it has been erased, Waziri said.
It was symbolically handed over at a ceremony Monday in Cairo by Daniel Rubinstein, the US chargé d’affaires in Egypt.
“This stunning coffin was trafficked by a well-organised network that has looted countless antiquities from the region,” Bragg said at the time. “We are pleased that this object will be returned to Egypt, where it rightfully belongs.”