Egypt says retrieves 25 smuggled artefacts from US

By AFP
May 13, 2025
A handout picture released by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs shows Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty looking at a collection of artifacts, illegally smuggled out of Egypt, after they were returned at the ministry headquarters in Cairo on May 12, 2025.—AFP
A handout picture released by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs shows Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty looking at a collection of artifacts, illegally smuggled out of Egypt, after they were returned at the ministry headquarters in Cairo on May 12, 2025.—AFP

CAIRO: Sarcophagus lids, a Greco-Roman portrait and fragments of what is believed to be a temple of Queen Hatshepsut were among 25 rare artefacts returned to Egypt from the United States, the Egyptian antiquities ministry said on Monday.

The pieces -- spanning centuries of Egyptian civilisation -- were handed over following a three-year recovery effort by Egypt´s consulate in New York, the New York District Attorney´s Office and US security agencies, the ministry said in a statement.