The Antiquities Ministry will be receiving 123 artifacts from Washington over the next few days after the ministry proved they had been stolen.
Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damaty said in a statement on Sunday that the artifacts, which represent different eras of ancient Egyptian civilization, were smuggled illegally and seized by customs in New York, adding that the ministry has recently signed agreements with several countries which allow Egypt to retrieve stolen artifacts.
Ali Ahmed, director of the Retrieved Antiquities Department, said that among the pieces to be recovered are colored wooden coffins for a woman from the 26th Dynasty, four wooden statues of birds representing the spirit in the ancient Egyptian culture, statues dating back to the Third Intermediate Period and a plate dating back to the Modern State era.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
