A golden sarcophagus is back on display in Egypt after it was stolen from the country and illegally sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET). The piece was unveiled in Cairo on Tuesday, one week after it was returned by the MET and flown thousands of miles from New York.
The gilded coffin dates back to the first century B.C. and belonged to a high-ranking Egyptian priest named Nedjemankh. It was stolen during the political upheaval of 2011 and was sold to the MET for $4 million through an underground network of art dealers using forged documents.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsD.A. Vance: Thus far, our investigation has determined that this coffin is just one of hundreds of antiquities stolen by the same multi-national trafficking ring, so we may see more significant seizures of prominent antiquities in the months to come. pic.twitter.com/TyJW43Trek
— Cyrus Vance, Jr. (@ManhattanDA) September 25, 2019
When the museum realized it had been defrauded, it worked with authorities to have the piece returned to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.
“This is another example of the outstanding cooperation between the United States and Egypt, in this case to counter the trafficking of stolen antiquities and works of art,” U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Thomas Goldberger told the press. “We are so happy that it is back in Egypt where it ought to be, where it can be enjoyed by millions of people who come to Egypt, visit Egypt and to see the amazing cultural heritage of Egypt.”
The MET has since issued an apology and said it was an “unwitting participant in the illegal trafficking of antiquities.”
Read from source One America News Network
