Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el-Damati said the department of repatriated antiquities has discovered that several pieces of Egyptian antiquity will be put up for sale in December at the Sotheby’s and Christie's auction houses in London and in the Mellon auction house in France.
The minister requested that the museums check if those pieces were stolen from them or taken during illegal excavations so as to take the necessary measures to repatriate them.
Ali Ahmed, the director of the department of repatriated antiquities, said the pieces date back to different eras of ancient Egyptian civilization. “They include statues, stone jars, mascots and jewelry,” he said.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
