translated from Spanish: Egypt exhibits coffin returned by New York Met

EL CAIRO (AP) — Egypt on Tuesday exhibited an old golden coffin from the first century prior to our era, which the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York returned last week after American researchers determined it was a looted antiquity . The coffin once contained the mummy of Nedjemankh, a priest from the Ptolomaico period, about 2,000 years ago. It will now be on display at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo.

Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Anany said that the repatriation of this “unique and wonderful” relic shows a “very strong solidarity” between Egypt and the United States.The Met bought it in 2017 from a Parisian art intermediary for about $4 million and became the centerpiece of an exhibition. The precious object was removed in February, after evidence was presented that it was stolen. Egyptian authorities proved that the export license of the coffin “was false” following a request from US authorities, said el-Anany.The business manager of the US embassy Thomas Goldberger attended the exhibition ceremony cairo.
“We are delighted that this beautiful work is here in this museum in Egypt, where it belongs,” he said.

Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, gave that the coffin is decorated with detailed and hieroglyphic scenes.” The name of the owner of this coffin is written here as ‘Nedjemankh’ and its title reflects that it was a priest. Most likely it was discovered in Middle Egypt,” he said. The exact location will be determined with more research. The Met apologized to the government of Egypt. The museum’s director, Daniel Weiss, said the institution was a victim of fraud and was an involuntary participant in illegal antiquity trafficking. U.S. researchers determined that the coffin was smuggled out of Egypt through the United Arab Emirates, Germany and France. They said the museum in New York received fraudulent documents, including a 1971 Egyptian export license that turned out to be false. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and Egyptian Chancellor Sameh Hassan Shoukry held a repatriation ceremony in New York last Wednesday.” Returning cultural treasures to their home countries is central to our mission to curb trafficking in stolen antiquities,” Vance Jr. said.



Original source in Spanish

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