Friday March 29th, 2024
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New York’s Metropolitan Museum to Return Illegally Trafficked Gold Coffin of Nedjemankh to Egypt

The stunning coffin is believed to have been stolen in 2011.

Staff Writer

The gold coffin of Nedjemankh – a high-ranking Ancient Egyptian priest – is set to be returned to Egypt, eight years after it was believed to have been illegally trafficked out of the country in 2011, according to the Daily Mail.

The coffin was then sold to New York’s Metropolitan Museum in 2017 using fake import papers and a forged 1971 Egyptian export license. Though authorities have yet to reveal whether they have identified the perpetrators, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office is believed to have found evidence that the museum had been conned in February 2019, while the coffin was on display as the centerpiece of an Ancient Egyptian exhibition.

On their part, officials from the museum were quick to set plans for the coffins return, which they reportedly purchased from a Paris-based art dealer for a fee of around $4 million. It's believed that the coffin will go on permanent display at the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is set to open in 2020.