13 Smuggled Antiquities Returned to Egypt from the United States

Thirteen antiquities have been repatriated to Egypt from the United States after being smuggled abroad, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

The recovery was carried out in coordination with the Foreign Ministry, the public prosecutor’s office, and the New York District Attorney’s Office, along with other Egyptian and international bodies.

The artefacts date from prehistoric periods to the Greco-Roman era. The collection includes vessels of various shapes and uses, including an alabaster jar for oils and perfumes dating to the seventh century BC, a New Kingdom kohl container shaped like a monkey, and a Middle Kingdom cosmetic jar shaped like a cat.

Other items include a Ptolemaic vessel, a ceremonial cup used in religious rituals, containers for liquids and ointments from the Middle Kingdom, and a decorated vessel fragment depicting a child among marsh plants, possibly linked to Horus.

The group also contains a Ptolemaic pottery figurine of a duck, a ceramic ornament showing the head of Dionysus, a second-century AD statue of Isis in the form of Aphrodite, and a block statue from the Late Period.