Egypt retrieves stolen monuments

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Wed, 25 Sep 2019 - 11:07 GMT

BY

Wed, 25 Sep 2019 - 11:07 GMT

Minister of Antiquities Khaled El Anani – file photo

Minister of Antiquities Khaled El Anani – file photo

CAIRO – 26 September 2019: Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities said it has retrieved stolen monuments back to the country following successful cooperation with the US and other Western countries and in coordination with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Here is the Ministry’s statement on the incident:

“In the framework of Egypt’s tireless efforts to retrieve stolen Egyptian antiquities from abroad, the great importance the Egyptian state and its institutions attach to protecting its civilization’s heritage and history, and the role undertaken by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Antiquities to repatriate stolen Egyptian antiquities, as well as, the bilateral cooperation with the United States and the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Foreign Minister and Secretary of State in November 2016 on protecting Egyptian antiquities from smuggling, Egypt succeeded in repatriating the ancient Gold Coffin of Nedjemankh, which was on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry attended a repatriation ceremony at the Office of the Manhattan District Attorney where he signed a special protocol to repatriate the coffin back to Egypt.



The repatriation of the ancient coffin comes as a result of cooperation between concerned Egyptian and American authorities for over a year; especially, the coordination between the Arab Republic of Egypt’s General Consulate in New York and the Office of the Manhattan DA, in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities and the Office of the Attorney General of Egypt. This collaboration revealed the illegality of how the ancient piece left Egypt and led to the seizure of the coffin by the American side until delivering it to the Egyptian authorities.



In the statement he delivered on the occasion, FM Shoukry emphasized that cooperation between authorities in both countries and their joint efforts, which resulted in repatriating this important ancient piece, reflect the scope of close cooperation and strong relations between Egypt and the United States. He, further, emphasized Egypt’s keenness to protect its historical heritage wherever it is and stressed the need to firmly confront smuggling of antiquities and cultural possessions while surveying efforts Egypt exerts in this regard.”

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