Eastern District of New York | Smuggler of Egyptian Antiquities Sentenced to Prison | United States Department of Justice

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/smuggler-egyptian-antiquities-sentenced-prison

Smuggler of Egyptian Antiquities Sentenced to Prison

Wednesday, August 27, 2025

For Immediate Release

U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York

Defendant Smuggled Hundreds of Stolen Ancient Artifacts out of Egypt to Sell Through Auction Houses Using Fake Documents

Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, Ashraf Omar Eldarir was sentenced by United States District Judge Rachel P. Kovner to six months in prison for smuggling Egyptian antiquities into the United States through John F. Kennedy International Airport.  During the course of this investigation, more than 600 Egyptian artifacts were recovered after having been smuggled through Eldadir's smuggling network.  Eldarir previously pleaded guilty in February 2025 to four counts of smuggling.

Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Ricky J. Patel, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, New York (HSI); and Francis J. Russo, Director of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, New York Field Office (CBP), announced the sentence.

"The defendant looted Egypt's cultural treasures and lied to U.S. Customs about them as part of a web of deception he spun to illegally fill his pockets with cash," stated United States Attorney Nocella.  "Those who steal cultural treasures of other countries and smuggle them into the United States should know that they will be held accountable for their crimes.  We commend our HSI and CBP partners for their diligent and important work in this case and look forward to repatriating to Egypt the recovered antiquities."

"Safeguarding cultural heritage is an often-overlooked yet important aspect of border security, as smugglers frequently exploit similar vulnerabilities to transport stolen artifacts and other illicit goods," stated CBP Director of Field Operations Russo.  "In this case, the profit-driven defendant lied during border inspection to conceal priceless antiquities, but the vigilance of CBP officers uncovered the truth.  Every day, our officers work tirelessly to protect both our security and the cultural heritage of nations worldwide, and while doing so, uncover other sophisticated smuggling plots.  Strong partnerships with agencies like HSI and the U.S. Attorney's Office are critical to this mission, and CBP remains committed to preserving history while enforcing the law."

As set forth in the indictment and in other court filings, Eldarir was a prolific trafficker of ancient Egyptian artifacts.  On at least four separate occasions from April 2019 to January 22, 2020, Eldarir smuggled ancient Egyptian artifacts into the United States.  Each time, Eldarir used fake provenances to sell those artifacts at U.S.-based auction houses.  Provenances are documents reflecting the history of ownership and custody of artifacts, which are used to establish that the artifacts are genuine and that they were not illegally excavated or stolen.

On January 22, 2020, Eldarir, travelling from Egypt, arrived at JFK Airport and falsely declared to CBP that he was carrying goods valued at only $300.  When CBP officers opened Eldarir's three checked suitcases, they found the suitcases filled with 590 valuable artifacts that were bubble and foam-wrapped.  When the wrapping was opened, loose sand and dirt spilled out of the packaging, indicating that the artifacts had been recently excavated.  Among the items recovered by law enforcement officers were gold amulets from a funerary set and wooden tomb model figures with linen garments dating to approximately 1900 BCE.  Eldarir was also in possession of a kit of materials used to fabricate documentation for the stolen items.  Further investigation following Eldarir's arrest at JFK Airport led to the recovery of additional illegally imported artifacts that have since been forfeited, along with the 590 artifacts seized at the time of Eldarir's arrest.

Assistant United States  Attorneys William P. Campos and Nomi Berenson are in charge of the prosecution with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Amara Padilla.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura D. Mantell of the Office's Asset Recovery Section is handling forfeiture matters.

The Defendant:

ASHRAF OMAR ELDARIR
Age:  52
Brooklyn, NY

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 20-CR-243 (S-2) (RPK)

Contact

John Marzulli
Denise Taylor
United States Attorney's Office
(718) 254-6323

Updated August 27, 2025

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USAO - New York, Eastern

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Egypt recovers new artefacts submerged in the Mediterranean

An ancient artefact is retrieved from the Mediterranean seabed at Abu Qir port. Archaeologists and divers have retrieved a collection of artefacts from the seabed at Abu Qir in Alexandria, including the remains of sphinx statues and marble figures dating back to the Roman and Ptolemaic periods. Gehad Hamdy/dpa

Egypt recovers new artefacts submerged in the Mediterranean

Thu, August 21, 2025 at 4:47 AM PDT

Egypt has recovered new sunken artefacts from the Mediterranean Sea near the northern city of Alexandria for the first time in nearly 25 years, officials said on Thursday.

Divers used ropes to attach four pieces to a crane, which lifted them out of the muddy water one by one. The artefacts were then placed carefully for display during a ceremony held in Alexandria's Abu Qir Bay.The pieces include a 2.17-metre long head- and legless granite statue that is believed to belong to the Late Period or the Ptolemaic era, officials said. It is estimated to have originally been 5 metres long.

Head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mohamed Ismail Khaled, said the findings are the first recovery of underwater artefacts since 2001.

They are part of an excavation project launched in 2023, when archeologists began documenting underwater structures found around 2.5 kilometres from the ancient sunken city of Thonis-Heracleion in Abu Qir Bay, said Khaled.

The site is "considered an extension of the ancient city, as structures found showed economic, burial and other aspects," Khaled told dpa.

Heracleion, which was discovered in the 1990s, is believed to have been submerged after an earthquake hit Egypt in the second century BC.

Thursday's finds are further proof the city was submerged due to an earthquake, officials said.

"The statue's body is the strongest part, unlike the legs and head which are easily broken," Khaled noted.

Archaeologists have also discovered a ship, and further details would be revealed after it is studied underwater, he added.

Egypt has been working on boosting tourism revenues, after the Suez Canal – another main source of national income – was affected by regional turmoil, as attacks prompted many vessels to avoid the waterway.

The Mediterranean country is hoping that the long-awaited official inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum, set for November 1, attracts more visitors.

Last month, Tourism Minister Sherif Fathy said that Egypt recorded a 22% increase in the number of tourists during the first half of 2025, reaching 8.7 million visitors, compared to the first six months of 2024.

The country hopes to bring that number to at least 17.5 million visitors by the end of 2025.

An ancient artefact is retrieved from the Mediterranean seabed at Abu Qir port. Archaeologists and divers have retrieved a collection of artefacts from the seabed at Abu Qir in Alexandria, including the remains of sphinx statues and marble figures dating back to the Roman and Ptolemaic periods. Gehad Hamdy/dpa

An ancient artefact is retrieved from the Mediterranean seabed at Abu Qir port. Archaeologists and divers have retrieved a collection of artefacts from the seabed at Abu Qir in Alexandria, including the remains of sphinx statues and marble figures dating back to the Roman and Ptolemaic periods. Gehad Hamdy/dpa

Reminder - Northern Cal. Egyptology Lecture Aug. 24: Pakhet of Speos Artemidos

The American Research Center in Egypt, Northern California chapter, and the UC Berkeley Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures invite you to attend a lecture by Beatrice De Faveri, UC Berkeley   Pakhet of Speos Artemidos: An exercise in divine and demonic ontologies Sunday August 24, 2025, 3 PM  Pacific Daylight Time MELC Lounge, Room 254 Social Sciences Building, UC Berkeley Because of nearby construction, please allow extra time to park your vehicle. This is an in-person lecture and is not virtual. No registration is required. The lecture will be recorded for later publication on the chapter's YouTube channel. The rock cut temple of Pakhet by Hatshepsut in Speos Artemidos. (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons). About the Lecture: The lioness goddess Pakhet, worshiped inside the Middle Egyptian rock-cut sanctuary known as the Speos Artemidos, is renowned within the ancient Egyptian pantheon for her fearsome qualities. Usually depicted as a lion-headed woman, her theonym can be translated as "The Slasher", a vivid image alluding to her aggressive nature. Despite her various theological associations with more benevolent deities the likes of Hathor and Isis, most of Pakhet's titles and epithets consistently emphasize the inherent violence of her figure, along with her animal features. While this is rather common for the divine lionesses taking on the role of guardians of the sun god, Pakhet's attributes allow for an argument about her standing at the intersection between the category of the divine (nTry) and the elusive notion of the demonic. The identification of demonic ontologies within the ancient Egyptian religious thought remains a famously daunting task, mostly due to systemic discrepancies between emic and etic definitions of what can be described as a "demon". Nevertheless, the analysis of textual sources of the Middle and New Kingdom related to the goddess offer some valuable insights for reconstructing Pakhet's individual position with respect to the taxonomy of the divine and the demonic. This paper attempts to discuss some previously overlooked aspects of her conceptualization, examined through the lens of the relation between Pakhet and the sphere of ancient Egyptian magic. About the Speaker: Beatrice De Faveri, CPhil, a fourth-year PhD student in Egyptology, received her BA in Classical Archaeology from the University of Padua, Italy. She then graduated from the University of Bologna, Italy with an MA in Civilizations and Cultures of the Ancient World focusing on Egyptology. Since 2019, she has been the second leading archaeologist of the IFAO (Cairo) - Museo Egizio (Turin) excavation in the Upper Egyptian site of Coptos (Quft). As for her current research interests, she specializes in ancient Egyptian magical texts, and harbors a special interest in collections of spells for which a ritual purpose can be identified. Her research extends to the relation between magical and ritual texts and the material culture they generate. As an adjacent interest, she has engaged in the investigation of the category of the 'demonic' in ancient Egyptian religious texts and practices. --------------------- Parking is available in UC lots all day on weekends, for a fee. Ticket dispensing machines accept debit or credit cards. Parking is available in lots around the Social Sciences Building, and in lots along Bancroft. A map of the campus is available online at http://www.berkeley.edu/map/ . About Northern California ARCE: For more information, please visit https://www.youtube.com/@NorthernCaliforniaARCE, https://www.facebook.com/NorthernCaliforniaARCE, https://arce-nc.org, https://bsky.app/profile/khentiamentiu.bsky.social, and https://khentiamentiu.org. To join the chapter or renew your membership, please go to https://arce.org/membership/ and select "Berkeley, CA" as your chapter when you sign up.

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