News 1 14/2/2011

14/2/2011

Update from Egypts Supreme Council of Antiquities on the Missing Artifacts in the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities

Addressing reports from February 13th, 2011 concerning artifacts that were announced to have been reported missing from the Egyptian Antiquities Museum, Dr. Zahi Hawas, Minister of Antiquities, has declared today that extensive searches being conducted have resulted in the recovery of two artifacts.

These searches have taken place both inside the Museum and out. A heart scarab was recovered in the Western area of the Museum, near the gift shop, where it is believed that thieves threw it outside of the Museum. Another item, a statuette of the eleven lost Ushabti was found, as well as a small part of a coffin recovered on the ground outside the Museum. This coffin is on display on the Upper Floor, and dates back to the New Kingdom, approximately 3,000 years ago.

Denying reports by CNN that the Golden Mask of King Tutankhamun was stolen, Dr. Hawas invited both Egyptian and international media outlets on a tour of the Museum on Wednesday morning to photograph the mask to prove that it was not stolen.