An ancient Egyptian coffin that was stolen and trafficked has been returned to officials in Cairo by the United States during a handover ceremony on January 2nd.
The “Green Coffin”, measuring 2.9 meters in length and dating back to the Late period of ancient Egypt (from 664 BC to 332 BC), was the burial coffin of the priest Ankhenmaat, BBC reported on January 3rd.
“Green Coffin” returned to Egypt by the US. (Photo: AP).
The handover ceremony of the “Green Coffin” in Cairo on January 2nd. (Photo: AP).
The coffin, valued at over one million USD, was stolen from the Abu Sir cemetery by an art trafficking network and was smuggled to the United States in 2008.
An antique collector loaned the coffin to the Houston Museum of Natural Science for display in 2013.
After a multi-year investigation, the “Green Coffin” was repatriated, with American diplomats officially handing it over during the ceremony in Cairo on January 2nd.
“Today’s ceremony symbolizes the long history of cooperation between the United States and Egypt in protecting artifacts and preserving cultural heritage,” said Daniel Rubinstein, Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Egypt.
The multinational trafficking network is also linked to the theft of another coffin known as the “Golden Coffin.” This artifact was returned to Egypt in 2019.
In addition to the U.S., Israel returned 95 trafficked artifacts to Egypt in 2021. In December 2022, a university in Ireland announced plans to return a coffin, a mummy, and a canopic jar—an item used to preserve the organs of the deceased in ancient Egyptian funerals.
In 2021, Cairo officials successfully recovered 5,300 stolen artifacts that had been scattered around the world and returned them to Egypt, according to Al Jazeera.
