Egypt has secured the return of 25 ancient artefacts that were illicitly removed and trafficked to the United States, Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Expatriates Minister Badr Abdelatty announced today. The artefacts arrived in Cairo following a coordinated effort by the Egyptian Consulate General in New York, the New York City District Attorney’s Office, and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations. The Committee for the Recovery of Smuggled Antiquities – a joint task force established in 2022 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities – was in charge of the recovery. According to official statements, the repatriated collection spans several millennia of Egyptian civilization. It comprises stone and wooden coffin lids that once sealed burial chambers, funerary masks of pottery and gilded wood intended to guide the deceased into the afterlife, and a large alabaster vessel used for storing sacred oils. A painted portrait of a Fayyoum woman that exemplifies the Greco-Roman era – the era between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD, characterized by the intertwined influence of Greek and Roman civilizations – was also recovered. The haul includes intricately crafted metal jewellery,…
