Looted ancient Egyptian coffin to finally be returned to Egypt
An ancient gilded coffin once featured in an exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art is on its way back to Egypt, after having been determined to be a looted antiquity.
D.A. Vance: The Gold Coffin of Nedjemankh dates back somewhere between 150 and 50 B.C.The coffin was actually buried in Egypt for more than two thousand years, until it was looted in 2011. pic.twitter.com/wBCIlQPHVb
- Cyrus Vance, Jr. (@ManhattanDA) September 25, 2019
On Wednesday, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Hassan Shoukry held a repatriation ceremony in New York for the item to be returned: The Coffin of Nedjemankh.
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
The Met bought the piece from a Paris art dealer in 2017 for about $4 million and made it the centerpiece of an exhibition. It was removed last February. The Met has apologized to Egypt.
Investigators say the coffin was smuggled from Egypt through United Arab Emirates, Germany and France. They say the museum was given fraudulent documents, including a forged 1971 Egyptian export license.
Prosecutors say they've found evidence of hundreds more antiquities thefts.
[Photos: Wikimedia Commons]
D.A. Vance: Thus far, our investigation has determined that this coffin is just one of hundreds of antiquities stolen by the same multi-national trafficking ring, so we may see more significant seizures of prominent antiquities in the months to come. pic.twitter.com/TyJW43Trek
- Cyrus Vance, Jr. (@ManhattanDA) September 25, 2019
D.A. Vance: New Yorkers place a strong value on cultural heritage, and our Office vigorously protects it. Returning cultural treasures to their home countries is at the core of our mission to stop the trafficking of stolen antiquities.https://t.co/2ZrTteJNku
- Cyrus Vance, Jr. (@ManhattanDA) September 25, 2019
Following the relinquishment of the Coffin of #Nedjemankh, the Met should hire a dedicated #provenance curator "to investigate the collecting histories and chain of custody of archaeological artefacts, paintings, and other cultural objects that come into the museum's collection." https://t.co/qziF8bYMfE
- Antiquities Coalition (@CombatLooting) May 15, 2019
Participants on an Egypt conservation of #antiquities #IVLP meet with @ManhattanDA to view the gilded coffin of Nedjemankh. After the #sarcophagus was looted in the Arab Spring of 2011, it found its way into @metmuseum and is now being returned to Egypt. pic.twitter.com/f9dIRnqaNa
- Meridian International Center (@MeridianIntl) April 24, 2019