Egypt: The country repatriates an ancient artefact known as the “Green Sarcophagus”.

Egypt repatriated, on Monday, an ancient artifact known as the “Green Sarcophagus” that was previously in the Museum of Natural Sciences in Houston, US.

A ceremony was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Cairo to receive the artefact, in the presence of Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa.

“A precious piece of Egypt’s history has been recovered after cooperation with our American friends, following several years of efforts,” said Sameh Shoukry. He said Egypt has managed to recover 29,300 artefacts over the past ten years.

Ahmed Issa said the sarcophagus was stolen several years ago in Egypt and smuggled into the United States. “After legal investigations that lasted more than two years, we managed to recover the artefact,” he added.

The Sarcophagus with the anthropoid lid belonged to a priest from the city of Heracleopolis, Ankh In Maat. Carved from wood and decorated with columns of gold-coloured hieroglyphic texts, it dates from the Late Period of ancient Egypt and is nearly three metres long.

Only the lid was stolen, as the entire coffin weighs about half a ton, making it one of the largest wooden sarcophagi in ancient Egypt.

The artefact was named “Green Sarcophagus”, because the portrait of the deceased on the lid of the sarcophagus is painted green, a symbol of rebirth and resurrection in ancient Egypt.

The coffin lid was looted from the Abusir necropolis near Cairo and smuggled into the United States in 2008, where it was sold to a private collector before being loaned to the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences in 2013, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

Miss OLY