Egypt gets back looted gold coffin displayed in New York
The Gold Coffin of Nedjemankh surrounded by members of media during a news conference to announce its return from the U.S. and display at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Cairo, Egypt October 1, 2019. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt exhibited on Tuesday the golden coffin of an ancient Egyptian priest that was returned by New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art following the discovery that it had been looted and illegally sold.
The finely decorated coffin is inscribed with the name Nedjemankh, a priest of the ram-headed god Heryshef of Herakleopolis, and dates to the first century B.C.
The coffin had been buried in Egypt for 2,000 years before it was stolen from the country's Minya region in the aftermath of the 2011 uprising that toppled veteran leader Hosni Mubarak.
The Gold Coffin of Nedjemankh surrounded by members of media during a news conference to announce its return from the U.S. and display at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Cairo, Egypt October 1, 2019. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Officials say it was smuggled through several countries by an international trafficking ring before being sold to an unwitting Metropolitan Museum two years ago for $4 million.
It went on display there for six months before judicial officials presented evidence that its ownership history documents were forgeries.
"The U.S. side was cooperative and carried out an investigation and proved that the piece ... was taken out of Egypt illegally and that its original location is the Arab Republic of Egypt," Egyptian Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany told a news conference in Cairo.
US Charge d'Affaires in Cairo Thomas Goldberger looks at the Gold Coffin of Nedjemankh during a news conference to announce its return from the U.S. and display at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Cairo, Egypt October 1, 2019. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
The wooden coffin is not large, but its gold casing carries fine hieroglyphic inscriptions and is embedded with black crystal, ivory and lapis lazuli, said Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.
It is due to go on public display in due course at Cairo's National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation.
Egypt has recovered several hundred artifacts annually in recent years as it tries to bring back items it says were smuggled or illegally sold.
An Egyptian archaeological technician works at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Cairo, Egypt October 1, 2019. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
(Reporting by Sherif Fahmy; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Gareth Jones)
The Gold Coffin of Nedjemankh is displayed during a news conference to announce its return from the U.S. and display at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Cairo, Egypt October 1, 2019. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah DalshEgyptian archaeological technicians work at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Cairo, Egypt October 1, 2019. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah DalshThe Gold Coffin of Nedjemankh is displayed during a news conference to announce its return from the U.S. and display at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Cairo, Egypt October 1, 2019. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah DalshEgypt's Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany and US Charge d'Affaires in Cairo Thomas Goldberger talk to media near the Gold Coffin of Nedjemankh during a news conference to announce its return from the U.S. and display at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Cairo, Egypt October 1, 2019. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah DalshThe Gold Coffin of Nedjemankh is reflected near US Charge d'Affaires in Cairo Thomas Goldberger during a news conference to announce its return from the U.S. and display at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Cairo, Egypt October 1, 2019. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah DalshEgypt's Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany and US Charge d'Affaires in Cairo Thomas Goldberger talk to media near the Gold Coffin of Nedjemankh during a news conference to announce its return from the U.S. and display at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Cairo, Egypt October 1, 2019. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah DalshMembers of the media are seen around the Gold Coffin of Nedjemankh during a news conference to announce its return from the U.S. and display at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Cairo, Egypt October 1, 2019. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
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