Green Sarcophagus

 

    The Story of the "Green Sarcophagus" Recovered from the United States by Egypt 

January 3, 2023

Egypt has recovered a stolen Pharaonic coffin that was on display in an American museum.

The history of the sarcophagus dates back to the period of the last Pharaonic families, whose rule extended to Egypt from 664 to 332 BC, and it belonged to a priest called "Ankh En Ma'at".

The coffin was stolen from the Egyptian village of Abusir by an international antiquities smuggling network that smuggled it to the United States in 2008 via Germany. Ireland intends to return the pharaonic mummy to Egypt

It was handed over by US diplomats to the Egyptian authorities in an official ceremony held on Monday in Cairo, attended by Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa.

"This day is symbolic in the long history of cooperation between the United States and Egypt in the field of protecting antiquities and preserving cultural heritage," said US Chargé d'Affaires to Egypt Daniel Rubinstein.

"The return of the sarcophagus is evidence of Egypt's desperate efforts to recover smuggled antiquities," Issa said.

How could an Egyptian mummy, 3,000 years old, speak?

Manhattan Attorney General Alvin Bragg said in September that the green sarcophagus, worth more than $1 million, was smuggled out of Egypt by an international antiquities smuggling network.

The network also smuggled the golden sarcophagus, which was returned to Egypt in 2019. It was handed over to the Egyptian authorities in 2020, along with 6 pieces confiscated at the Metropolitan Museum of Antiquities in New York last year.

Tomb of the Golden King "Tutankhamun"

The United States is not the only country that has returned antiquities to Egypt in the recent period.

In 2021, Israel handed over to the Egyptian authorities 95 artifacts found for sale in Jerusalem.

An Irish university said last month it planned to return a sarcophagus, mummified human remains, and a collection of ancient pots.