CAIRO: A sarcophagi smuggled out of Egypt nearly 50 years ago is to be returned by the United States, Egypt's top Egyptologist Zahi Hawass said in a statement from the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA). According to Hawass, American authorities uncovered the sarcophagi on US territory and plan to return it to Egypt in the coming few weeks. Although Hawass has been keen on having stolen pieces returned to Egypt, he did not provide any other details about the antiquities or give an indication of where it was taken from. Hawass did praise American efforts in returning artifacts, saying the US is the “first country in the world that cooperated with Egypt on the return of antiquities.” Egypt wants to recover artifacts that it considers a part of the people, culture and history of Egypt. One of these artifacts is the historical and famous Rosetta Stone. The British Museum in London has held on to the Rosetta Stone since 1802. The Rosetta Stone was instrumental in advancing the modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphics. Napoleon's soldiers discovered the black slab on the western bank of the Nile River in 1799. Upon Napoleon's defeat, the stone became the property of the British under the terms of the Treaty of Alexandria (1801) along with other antiquities that the French had found. Despite repeated requests to return the Rosetta Stone to its original homeland, the British Museum has declined to even lend the stone to Egypt. Another artifact that Egypt is struggling to bring home is the 3,300-year-old bust of Nefetiti from the Neues Museum in Berlin. Egypt claims that the bust was obtained through deception, while Germany maintains that there was nothing underhanded in the way the bust was acquired about 100 years ago. Recently, Egyptian authorities have improved their efforts in recovering stolen artifacts, with the head of the SCA, Zahi Hawass, attracting international attention for his efforts. Last year, Egypt broke off ties with Louvre Museum, is one of the largest museums in the world in France, until France returned fragments chipped from a wall painting in an ancient Egyptian tomb. ** additional reporting by Jordan C. Terrell BM
