Antiquities Ministry recovers 9 smuggled artifacts from France, Denmark

The Ministry of Antiquities announced on Wednesday that it would receive nine historical artifacts which were stolen from the country years ago. 

The artifacts include eight wooden Islamic decorative pieces recovered from Denmark, and an ornate Ancient Egyptian sarcophagus lid recovered from France. The ministry recovered the objects in coordination with Egypt’s embassies in Copenhagen and Paris, according to its statement.

The United Nation's Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property and other international laws were successfully referenced before the Danish and French courts.

The eight wooden decorative pieces, dating back to 1429, were reportedly stolen from the pulpit of the historic Ganem al-Bahlawan Mosque in Cairo’s Darb al-Ahmar district in 2008, and then were illegally smuggled to Denmark.

The Ancient Egyptian sarcophagus cover was reportedly stolen from the Saqqara Museum during the January 25, 2011 revolution, when it was illegally smuggled to France.

But while Egyptian legal and diplomatic efforts succeeded in retrieving these priceless artifacts, there seems to be little success in efforts to retrieve an over 4,300-year-old Ancient Egyptian statue due be auctioned-off in London tomorrow.

According to the ministry’s official Facebook page, the statue of the Ancient Egyptian scribe Sekhema, which dates from 2,300 BCE, is due to be sold on Thursday by Christie’s auction house. The auction is to be held at the Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, where the 75 cm tall limestone statue could fetch up to GBP6 million, or US$10 million, according to estimates.

The statue of Sekhema was originally located in Egypt’s royal burial grounds of Saqqara, and is associated with the Fifth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. It was claimed by the Northamptom family around 1850, and was reportedly donated to the Northamptom Museum in 1880.

Antiquities Minister Mohamed Ibrahim will reportedly file an appeal before the International Council of Museums (ICOM) in hopes of calling off the auction, and eventually retrieving the artifact.

However, both Christie’s and the Northamptom Museum appear to be unwavering in their plans to sell the piece. According to the Associated Press, the sale of Sekhema is due to take place as scheduled, with the proceeds allegedly going to a fund an expansion of the Northampton Museum.

Those responsible for the auction claim that the statue was acquired prior to the UN’s convention on artifact smuggling, which was issued in 1970.

The Egyptian Embassy in London is pursuing all legal and diplomatic measures possible to retrieve Sekhema, according to the ministry’s Facebook page.