Egyptian Artefacts Smuggled in a Suitcase Being Returned

When Ocean’s Eleven wanted to steal something, they put together a massive operation where every detail was carefully thought out and it was planned down to the last millisecond. When some rando wanted to steal ancient artefacts from Egypt that are thousands of years old and beyond even placing a price on, they just packed ‘em up in a suitcase and left. We’re not even joking. A collection of 123 stolen antiquities were found in a person’s luggage at New York airport by customs and are set to be returned to Egypt within a few days.

The recovered artefacts, which stem from different Egyptian eras, were illegally smuggled out of the country, and found by customs in New York in a wooden parcel within the luggage of a passenger. Just casually. And THAT’S how you smuggle ancient antiquities out of a nation. After Egyptian authorities proved that the artefacts were authentic, they are being returned to the country and should be back within days.

According to Ahmed Ali, General Director of the Antiquities Recuperation Department, the stolen antiquities include (did you pay attention in history class when they covered Ancient Egypt?) several limestone statues from the Third Intermediate Period, a collection of painted wooden sarcophagi from the 26th Dynasty, three wooden model boats from the Middle Kingdom, and, AND, the remains of a HUMAN SKELETON. Yes, this person just casually packed a SKELETON in their suitcase and thought this would be a good idea.