Egypt recovers 2,700-year-old statue from auction house in Germany

Jun. 14, 2015 14:12

Egyptian Ushabti Funerary Statuette - Photo Courtesy Of Tnnegypt

By Rany Mostafa

CAIRO: Egypt stopped the sale of a 2,700 year-old Egyptian statue that was put up for sale in a Germany-based auction hall, the Antiquities Ministry’s Restored Artifacts Department (RAD) head Aly Ahmed told The Cairo Post Sunday.
“The statue, along with dozens of other ancient Egyptian artifacts was stolen from the storerooms of the Antiquities Ministry in Aswan’s Elephantine Island, which were looted in 2013,” said Ahmed.
The 4.5 inch-high statue was monitored on display at Aton Gallery for Egyptian Art in Oberhausen city west of Germany, Ahmed said, it represents an ordinary man standing and carrying an antelope over his shoulders.
“The statue was unearthed by a Swiss archaeological mission that carried out Excavations at Khnum Temple on the Elephantine Island in 2008. It dates back to the Late Period [(664B.C.-332 B.C.)], which ended with the conquest by Alexander the Great and establishment of the Ptolemaic Dynasty,” said Ahmed.
After the statue was monitored in the auction house, the Antiquities Ministry reported the case to the Interpol to carry out comprehensive investigations to verify how the artifacts left Egypt, Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damaty was quoted by Youm7 Sunday.
“The ministry asked the Interpol to contact the auction house in order to show the artifact’s provenance. If it fails to prove ownership or show an export certificate, the ministry would take legal steps to get the artifacts back to Egypt,” said Damaty.
The artifact’s provenances is a document that trace an artifact’s chain of ownership back to its excavation, it is among the evidence required to prove Egypt’s legibility, said Aly.
Egypt’s ancient sites have been targeted for thousands of years but the upheavals and the security lapse following the 2011 revolution have helped looters and tomb robbers target museums and several archaeological sites for treasures to sell on the black market.