CAIRO: Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni announced the accidental discovery of a cache of artifacts at the Egyptian Antiquities Museum in Tahrir. A collection of ancient relics was unearthed by the western door of the Egyptian Museum's west wing. The museum is currently undergoing renovations as part of a project to expand it. The renovation of the museum is slated for completion by next month. The uncovered items were broken limestone artifacts with hieroglyphic inscriptions, and relics of two intertwined arms. Zahi Hawass, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said in a press statement that the uncovered artifacts were buried by archeologists and officials at the museum as they were being transported from their original sites to the museum for storage. Hawass clarified that such artifacts were routinely examined in the past, and only those known to be fake were buried. But evidently, he added, authentic artifacts were sometimes mistakenly buried alongside the fake ones. This is not the first time that buried, genuine artifacts have been found, Hawas added. A similar cache of amulets was revealed 10 years ago at the museum. -Daily News Egypt
