Ancient Egyptian sarcophagus from the Late Dynastic Period has finally made it back to its original location.
The artifact, which was on display at the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences, was ceremoniously handed over by the American chargé d’affaires in Egypt on Monday, according to Egyptian officials.
The sarcophagus was finally returned, three months after the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office concluded that it was stolen from the Abu Sir Necropolis, which is located north of Cairo.
According to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, the sarcophagus was smuggled into the US through Germany in 2008.
The almost 3 meter (9.5 foot) tall sarcophagus, which has a beautifully painted top surface, may have belonged to an ancient priest.
According to Mostafa Waziri, the head official of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, it dates from a period that included the last of the Pharaonic kings from 664 B.C. to Alexander the Great’s campaign in 332 B.C.
Over 29,000 artifacts that were stolen and exported from Egypt in the past decades have been recovered.
The repatriation of the precious antiquities might help Egypt’s struggling tourism industry, which is still feeling the effects of the COVID pandemic.
