The Egyptian Antiquities Authority announced yesterday its recovery of two ancient artefacts dating back to the time of the pharaohs that had been seized by Israel.
In a statement the ministry said: “Two sarcophagus covers dating back to the time of the pharaohs were returned to Egypt by Israel.”
The statement also said that the return of the artefacts occurred “after the success of diplomatic and archaeological efforts to prove Egypt’s ownership of the covers and their right to recover them.”
According to the statement, this is the second time that Egypt has recovered ancient artefacts from Israel, the first was in the 1990’s when It was successful in reclaiming artefacts that were found in Sinai by Israeli archaeological missions during the time of Sinai’s occupation.
The two sarcophagus covers were found at an auction in Jerusalem in 2012, which prompted the authorities to take the necessary measures to prove Egypt’s ownership of the covers and to recover them, the statement added.
The statement also said that “the covers were illegally taken from the digging site and were smuggled by an Israeli artefact seller.”
