Egypt repatriates ‘Green Coffin’ from US

By Ibrahim Al-Khazen

ANKARA (AA) – Egypt on Monday repatriated an ancient artefact known as the “Green Coffin” from the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences in the United States.

A ceremony was held at the Foreign Ministry in Cairo to receive the artefact that was attended by Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa.

“A precious piece of Egypt's history was recovered after cooperation with our friends in the US, and after efforts that lasted for several years,” Shoukry said.

He noted that Egypt has managed to recover 29,300 artefacts in the last ten years.

Issa, for his part, said the coffin was stolen several years ago from Egypt and was smuggled to the US.

“After judicial investigations that lasted for more than two years, we succeeded in recovering the artefact,” he added.

The anthropoid coffin lid belonged to a priest of Heracleopolis city, Ankh In Maat, and dates from the Late Period (664-332 BC).

The lid is almost three meters long, carved in wood and decorated with columns of hieroglyphic texts that are colored in gold.

The portrait on the lid of the deceased’s face and ears are painted green, a symbol of rebirth and resurrection in ancient Egypt.

The coffin lid was looted from the Abusir necropolis, near Cairo, and trafficked into the US in 2008, where it was sold to a private collector and eventually loaned to the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences in 2013, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report