The relics were detected on the website of one of Paris’ international auction halls, according to the ministry
Egypt received an Ancient Egyptian relic recovered from France Tuesday morning after finding them on one of Paris’ auction houses before the ministry took all the necessary procedures to stop the sale of the relic and withdraw it from auction, according to a statement published on the Ministry of Antiquities’ official Facebook page.
“The relic was stolen from a temple at Saqqara Necropolis during the 1900s, and it was published in one of the international scientific periodicals,” said Shaaban Abdel-Gawad, general supervisor of the Antiquities Repatriation Department at the ministry. “We also received a collection of 44 small and medium size artifacts that have been seized at Charles de Gaulle Airport in France.”
The artifact dates back to the 30th Dynasty, during the reign of King Nektanebo II. The relic is carved in limestone and it is about 44X50 cm in size and weighs about 80 kg. The relic depicts Goddess Sekhmet carrying the sun disc on top of her head and a line of hieroglyphic writing that contains a cartouche of king Nekhtenbo II.
The artifacts include cosmetics and jewelry containers made of beads, ivory, and bone that can be dated to different ages from Ancient Egyptian civilization, but most of them go back to the Coptic era.
