On Wednesday, Egypt received 5,000 artifacts from the Museum of Bible of Washington after coordination between the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the American concerned authorities.
The Supervisor of Antiquities Restitution Department Shaaban Abdel Gawad described that the ministry managed in restoring the artifacts which were smuggled years ago.
He added that the talks with the American side started in 2016 for restoring those artifacts.
The restored collection includes various manuscripts written in Coptic, Hieratic, Ancient Greek, and Demotic as well as a number of written Christian prayers in Coptic and Arabic.
Furthermore, many parts of coffins, portraits, stone statues, and funeral masks are included and they will be kept in the Coptic Museum.
In the same context, the head of the Central Department of Center of Studies and Documentation Dr. Hesham Al-Laithy explained that the restored antiquities were not documented in any museums or warehouses, however, they were smuggled from Egypt.
On the other hand, US Ambassador to Cairo Jonathan Cohen expressed that the US is pleased to send those artifacts to Egypt in the framework of the cultural cooperation between both states, adding that the Government of Egypt and the American authorities are working together for preserving Egypt's cultural heritage.
https://twitter.com/EgyptEmbassyUSA/status/1354865599084716035
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