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3d ago

Egypt Confirms 4,000-Year-Old Relief Missing From Saqqara Tomb

Officials launch an audit, refer the case to prosecutors, with border alerts to block any export.

FILE - Egyptian antiquities workers dig at the site of the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, 24 kms. (15 miles) southwest of Cairo, Jan. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)
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Overview

  • The Supreme Council of Antiquities confirmed a limestone relief vanished from the mastaba of Khentika at Saqqara, a tomb found in the 1950s and unopened since 2019.
  • A committee led by Saqqara site director Amr Al Tibi is auditing the tomb’s contents and the matter has been referred to the Public Prosecution.
  • The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities is circulating images of the artifact to airports, seaports and land borders as investigators examine possible trafficking links.
  • Egyptian media reported a British mission noticed the relief missing in May, and local reports say the piece depicting the three agricultural seasons may have been cut out with a power saw.
  • The disappearance follows last month’s theft and melting of a 3,000-year-old gold bracelet from the Egyptian Museum, with arrests made and security under renewed scrutiny ahead of the Grand Egyptian Museum opening.