Egypt has managed to retrieve and claim title to 274 illegally smuggled artifacts from Spain and France, the Antiquities Ministry has declared.
On its Facebook page on Thursday, the ministry’s statement quoted Minister Mamdouh al-Damaty as saying that Egypt had succeeded in establishing claim to 36 antiquities that were smuggled to Spain illegally after secret excavations that had taken place recently in the country.
Damaty added that Interpol informed the ministry of a collection of artifacts that arrived to Valencia seaport, coming from Alexandria, hidden inside pots on board a container ship. The minister explained that ministry experts checked photos of the seized pieces confirmed they were ancient Egyptian artifacts.
Ali Ahmed, who heads the ministry’s retrieval department, said the seized pieces included, inter alia, a black granite head resembling Goddess Sekhmet, as well as a limestone head resembling God Amon.
Ahmed added that the ministry is coordinating with the embassy in Madrid for the handover of the stolen pieces.
The declaration comes two days after Egypt said it retrieved 238 pieces of antiquity from France, with the artifacts being handed to the embassy in Paris.
The minister said Tuesday that an international press conference will be held after the collection arrives back to Egypt, noting that he discussed with the French ambassador to Cairo, Andre Baran, the possibility of signing a French-Egyptian memorandum of understanding that could help curb the illegal trafficking of antiquities.
