25 Smuggled Egyptian Artefacts Repatriated From the United States

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that 25 smuggled Egyptian artefacts have been repatriated from the United States, following a coordinated recovery effort with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and other US authorities. The artefacts have now arrived in Cairo.

The artefacts, which span several key periods of ancient Egyptian history, include wooden sarcophagus lids, fragments of temple reliefs believed to date to the time of Queen Hatshepsut, a Greco-Roman-era Fayoum mummy portrait, and intricately crafted pieces of jewellery dating back more than 2,000 years. One of the standout items is a gold coin minted during the reign of Ptolemy I, an early ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty.

The retrieved items were seized during investigations launched in 2022, and had been held at Egypt’s Consulate General in New York before their return. Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities confirmed that many of the artefacts were looted or smuggled illegally before being acquired by private collectors or institutions in the US.

This latest recovery marks another milestone in Egypt’s ongoing efforts to retrieve stolen and trafficked cultural property. According to the Ministry, nearly 30,000 artefacts have been recovered over the past decade through diplomatic and legal cooperation with international partners.