The Egyptian Museum received on Tuesday two coffin covers dating from the Greek and Roman periods that were repatriated from Israel last week.
The two coffin covers have been placed inside a museum storeroom, and will be put on display after they have been restored by experts.
This is the second time Egypt has retrieved antiquities from Israel, Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anani said in a press statement Wednesday. In the 1990s, Egyptian artifacts that had been smuggled over the border by Israeli archaeological missions during the Israeli occupation of Sinai were also repatriated.
The head of the Retrieved Antiquities Department, Shaaban Abdel Gawad, the two coffin covers, dating from the Greek and Roman eras of ancient Egyptian history, are in the shape of the human body. They are made of wood and cartonnage and bear a number of colorful inscriptions and decorations.
The two funerary artifacts were seized at an auction hall in Jerusalem back in 2012 by Israeli and Interpol authorities. Egypt was notified of the finding and legal measures were taken to retrieve the antiquities.
In a statement on Wednesday, Assistant Minister for Cultural Relations, Eman al-Far, expressed Egypt's appreciation of the steps taken by Israel and hoped that other Egyptian antiquities still in Israel will be handed over to Egypt soon.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
