Ancient Egyptian ‘Green Coffin’ returned to Cairo by US

BBC reported that a looted ancient Egyptian sarcophagus that was on display at a US museum has been returned to Egypt.

The 2.9m (9.5ft) long “Green Coffin” dates back to the Late Dynastic Period, which spanned 664BC to 332BC, and belonged to a priest called Ankhenmaat.

It was looted from the Abu Sir necropolis in north Egypt by a global art trafficking network which smuggled it through Germany into the US in 2008.

A collector loaned it to the Houston Museum of Natural Science in 2013.

The sarcophagus was repatriated after an investigation that lasted several years and was formally handed over by US diplomats at a ceremony in Cairo on Monday. The event was attended by Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Tourism and Antiquities Minister Ahmed Issa.

(picture BBC)