Egypt recovers Stolen relief of King Seti I from London
Nevine El-Aref, , Sunday 4 Oct 2015
A New Kingdom relief illegally smuggled out of the country has been retrieved from England
A limestone relief dating back to the New Kingdom period, between
the 16th and 11th centuries BC, was recovered Sunday from an auction
hall in London after two weeks of negotiations.
Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty told Ahram Online that the
ministry was informed about the relief by the curator at the British
Museum, Marcel Marée.
Marée sent a photograph of the piece to the ministry asking for its
authenticity, as the piece was put on display in an auction hall in
London.
Eldamaty assigned an archeological committee to inspect the relief. The committee later confirmed its authenticity.
A report was then filed at Egypt’s Tourism and Antiquities police
and a similar one was sent to Interpol in order to stop the sale of the
relief.
Ali Ahmed, Director of the Recuperation Antiquities Department,
explained that the relief was then confiscated by the British police and
is due to come home next week.
He explained that the relief was stolen due to illegal excavations.
The relief is engraved with a scene depicting the 19th dynasty King
Seti I before goddess Hathor and god Web Wawat. It also bears
hieroglyphic text and the names of several ancient Egyptian deities of
Assiut governorate in Upper Egypt.
“It is a very important relief as it depicts a not yet discovered temple of king Seti I in Assiut,” Ahmed pointed out.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/152042.aspx
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