Egypt has successfully secured the return of seven ancient artifacts that had been smuggled out of the country, with the cooperation of authorities in Washington.
The official handover ceremony took place recently, with key participation by Ambassador Wael el-Naggar, Assistant Foreign Minister for Cultural Relations.
The event marked the formal transfer of the recovered antiquities from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
This achievement is the result of close collaboration between the Egyptian Embassy in Washington, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, all of whom are parties to a memorandum of understanding signed in November 2021 aimed at protecting cultural property.
The retrieved items include a funerary ushabti statuette, an amulet representing the deity Set, a stone scarab, two carved stone human heads, as well as mummified heads of a falcon and a fish, each reflecting Egypt’s millennia-old civilisation.
Ambassador el-Naggar highlighted that the recovery of these artifacts demonstrates Egypt’s deep commitment to safeguarding its historical identity, protecting its civilisational legacy, and upholding both national heritage laws and international agreements that prohibit the illicit trade of cultural property.
