CAIRO: A 4,200-year-old ancient Egyptian wooden figurine, which was looted in the aftermath of 2011 uprising, arrived Thursday in Cairo from France, Youm7 reported.
After it was stolen from the antiquities ministry’s storeroom in Sakkara south of Giza Pyramids, the figuring was illegally smuggled to France in some way where it was purchased by a French citizen, head of the Repatriated Artifacts Department Aly Ahmed told The Cairo Post Friday.
“The French citizen who purchased the artifact, decided voluntarily to return it back to the Egyptian authorities after he found out it was authentic and was illegally smuggled,” according to Ahmed
The 33 cm-long figurine dates back to the sixth Dynasty (2345B.C.-2181B.C.,) it depicts a naked woman resting on her belly with her arms stretched forward, Ahmed said, adding that it could have been used as a cosmetic tool.
The authenticity of the artifact was confirmed by an Egyptian-French committee of specialists, said Ahmed adding that the figurine is registered in the antiquities ministry’s archive.
In October 2014, a German national, according to his late mother’s will, voluntarily handed over an ancient Egyptian Ushabti figurine to the Egyptian authorities.
Egypt’s political turmoil since the January 25 Revolution in 2011 and its consequent security lapse left the country’s cultural heritage vulnerable to looting.
During the past four years, Egypt has recovered more than 1,600 artifacts and is currently working on other cases in many European countries, Ahmed said.