Police in Naples, Italy have seized a number of parcels filled with artefacts from several countries, including ancient Egyptian artefacts.
Shaaban Abdel-Gawad, the head of the Egyptian antiquities ministry’s Repatriation Department, said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported the incident to the Ministry of Antiquities, which assigned a special archaeological committee to confirm the authenticity of the seized artefacts by examining their photos.
Abdel-Gawad said that the objects were stolen from illegal excavation sites, as there is no record of them existing in any Egyptian museum or store gallery.
The artefacts include a collection of pottery from different pharaonic eras, as well as parts of sarcophagi and coins. Also among the artefacts were objects from the Islamic period.
Abdel-Gawad said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working with Italian authorities to return the objects to Egypt.
Mummy mask
Boat
Short link: