Egypt's Officials State 3,000-Year-Old Bracelet Was Stolen and Destroyed
An 3,000-year-old precious artifact that vanished from the Egyptian Museum in the capital was allegedly stolen and melted down, according to government reports.
An restoration specialist removed the treasure—from the era of Pharaoh Amenemope, who ruled the region approximately 1,000 BC—from a safe at the institution recently, authorities explained.
The specialist contacted a local artisan she knew, who sold the bracelet to a dealer for around $3,700, reports indicate. He then passed it on for $4,000 to a metalworker, who melted it down along with other jewellery, according to the findings.
The ministry stated that the suspects confessed to their crimes after their detention and that the proceeds was recovered.
Proceedings will be initiated against them, authorities noted.
Earlier this week, the cultural department announced that immediate measures were implemented after the bracelet went missing from the museum’s restoration laboratory, and the case was referred to law enforcement.
An photograph of the artifact decorated with round blue stone beads had been circulated to all Egyptian airports, seaports, and frontier points as a preventive step to stop illegal export efforts, sources clarified.
Reports indicated that the loss was detected in recent days as curators were getting ready to ship dozens of items to Rome for an exhibition.
The Egyptian Museum is the most historic archaeological museum in the region and houses over 170,000 objects, including the pharaoh's gilded wooden funerary mask.
The incident took place just weeks before the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, where famous treasures from Tutankhamun’s burial site have been transferred.
